Fallout: The Beginning - Charkole (Prequel)
by Charkole
Summary: *Set before the events of "The End", join the start of a family in Vault 101. Figure out the experiments and lies that are inside and out of a bomb shelter. Familiar faces are seen for the first time as more light is shed on the events set prior to the Megaton Detonation. Learn history that characters have with each other and why they turn into unpredictable psychopaths in The End.
1. Introduction and Basic Plot

*Minor Spoilers Ahead*

Hello! And thank you for giving at least a first glance to my Fanfiction! Fallout: The Beginning takes place before the events of The End: my standalone story with original main characters separate from the video games and some ties with major Fallout 3 and New Vegas characters and stories. Since there isn't much information about how the nuclear bomb-blasted Washington, D.C. area dubbed "The Capital Wasteland "was before Fallout 3, I decided to insert my own creativeness. In The Beginning, the Capital Wasteland is still primitive and simple: energy technology and futuristic medicine are rare to many people and the D.C. ruins are ignored completely by the sane walking people since the metro tunnels had not been cleared out by scavengers yet. I've tried to make the basic plot of Fallout appealing to people who haven't played the games that much, since most of the characters and story-line are new to everyone who reads. Only true fans will understand some of the characters, background stories, foreshadowing and inside jokes that are sprinkled throughout the fanfiction.

The main character is Jace Marston; a content and somewhat timid boy who grew up in a bomb shelter after a large nuclear world war called the Great War ended the country of the United States in nuclear fire. The reader will soon learn that the "vault" Jace lives in is based off of a perfect Utopian society, and it is home to many secrets, as all other vaults are.

As the story continues and Jace is thrown into many violent situations, his personality changes and becomes at home to the outside world of the Capital Wasteland, where everyone has ended a life and those who do it are celebrated and those who do it more are called raiders. I based the Marston last name off of another original piece of video game culture: Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. The main character in that game is a rugged father with a past full of violence. All he wants is that life to end and the other peaceful chapter to begin, but due to his own ego and mistakes, he is brought back into the land of guns and betrayal and eventually loses the support of his family.

Family and togetherness is the basis of my Fallout series of Fanfiction. Family, and anything else resembling it is a constant theme throughout the series, as all of the characters spend most of their time together. As with real life, being alone is never good for you, and whenever you are, it's never a good sign.

All of the characters in the story know to stick together, not just the major ones. The raider faction of the Washington D.C. area relies heavily on that. The main enemy of the first part of the story are humans, unfortunately. These people use the strength of numbers against our three main characters, and they will have to deal with it, one way or another using the many colorful fight scenes spread out between chapters.

But the story isn't all just cracking heads and shooting raiders. Another reoccurring theme in my series is Sanity and Social Interaction.  
Since the three main characters find themselves as friends early off in the story, they will often find themselves sharing intimate thoughts and issues with each other, whether it is in the town bar or just out on their jobs. Since realism is some-what important to me in my writing, I've taken into consideration what constant arguments with the same people coupled with almost dying on a weekly basis will have on a normal person, that's where the theme Sanity goes into place. When you start to think you wouldn't have made that decision, or you have no idea why something happened, you will know what point our characters have crossed on the plane of Sanity. Unfortunately, not all our characters have spent their entire lives being shot at and murdering, and some actually have, and that's where their problems arise in the form of character contrasts. Throughout the story, the character's mental health will deteriorate and at times, change their ego entirely. As with many normal people, they will look for ways to cope with knowing the fact they will have to be beaten up and kill someone again. Our three characters will use alcohol, drugs, and food to escape the insanity of their lives. And when they don't work, our characters will see a problem within themselves. Their mental stages will change, and at times, they will ignore the fact that they brutally murdered someone and just laugh at it. This will be noticed by the characters, and that's where Social Interaction comes in as a theme. Just because the three start off as friends doesn't mean they will stay that way with literally everyone for the duration of the story. They will find out each other's flaws and point them out, especially when their morals are in question and their decision making skills differ. They will fight, they will argue, and at times, they will hate each other completely. You will have to read to find out where that road leads for them.

Since the story is based from Jace's point-of-view, that doesn't mean he is the only person out in the Wasteland. As I've explained before, he will be accompanied by his two friends, Joe and Victoria, along with a myriad of original characters with some recognizable Fallout 3 characters. Joe is the comic relief of the group, and starts off as a sarcastic and tired young man with a taste for alcohol and violence. As the story develops, Joe does as well. His taste for drinks will intensify and his sarcastic remark at the end of a harsh fight will become a fondness of intense situations and dramatic encounters. This aspect, along with his sarcastic way of coping through situations will be pointed out by his friends and set up for a cross-examination throughout the story. The other main character is Victoria. As Joe's longest friend, Victoria keeps her childish friend in check and serves as the babysitter for our main characters, but she is not without fault. The mother figure of the story has a rough upbringing-one that is shared with Joe. After the experiences of her childhood, she has developed some natural distrust of strangers. This distrust will turn into paranoia of anything and anyone as well as priority issues as the story grows deeper and the stakes grow larger.

But these three aren't the only people that are examined in the story. The main antagonist, Chain, will be present throughout the first part of the story, since he is the sole leader and organizer of the raiders in D.C. Sharing a history with the three main characters, he will be the force that brings them together and the force knocking down their walls as they settle a decade long dispute that will survive through generations. You will learn more about Chain in the story, along with his reasons for doing what he does. More characters are the supporting character of Jace, Rachel. Serving as Jace's childhood best friend and mirror of Jace's youth, Rachel will be seen as the perfect person in the eyes of everyone, including her father, the omniscient leader of the vault or "Overseer". This perfectness will pose a problem to Jace and will be seen and analyzed further throughout the story. More minor characters are Chip, the childhood bully, Jab, the bar-tending ghoul that the characters will later hate as their personalities change, Moira, the quirky, weird owner of the town store, Lucas Simms, the egotistical sheriff/mayor-when-the-need-arises, Doc Hill, the under-qualified doctor with a crush on Victoria, and Michael, the super-fan of Joe who might have a man-crush. These characters will either be supporting small characters, or one time boss fights for the chapter. These comical and understandable characters will help create the air of "no more society bars" that Fallout is known for, along with setting Joe, Victoria and Jace on their way to defeat Chain.

But just because the main story is set in stone doesn't mean there are going to be setbacks. Just like the video game, these setbacks are going to be called "Side-quests" for the gamers reading, and the three characters will have to do them for their own reward, whether it be information, or personal need. These side quests include giving someone a gift, passing time in a hospital visit, or preparing for an attack. There will be times where the characters are forced into ridiculous situations that they don't want to be in, and they will express that with colorful language; verbal or body. Unfortunately, these situations will result in permanent injury or death for some or many of the characters of The Beginning. These favors won't always be completed, and the characters will definitely decline them when they don't feed they have to do them. This will leave problems lingering throughout the story, and consequences for either accepting or declining these side missions. Remember, they're human. They can't do everything on their plate and that's something you have to keep in the back of your mind when you read this story. Other people will have to finish what Joe, Jace, and Victoria started because they won't always be around in the Capital Wasteland to do these things. Readers of my first story "The End", will understand that.

I will always be lurking around this site, so make sure you give me feedback on where the story is going or where you think I went wrong in the PMs or reviews. I love talking to people and explaining why I wrote what I wrote. I hope you enjoy the Prequel to The End and please let me know how you feel. Thank you so much for giving this story a chance and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!


	2. Chapter 1

Kole Bailey

July 2nd, 2012

Fallout: The Continued Adventures

**PART 1**

**"The man who made the first fist was a brute, the man who made a gun: a mass murderer. The man who split the atom… is not a man any longer."**

**Chapter 1: 101**

"It is the year 2151. A war hundreds of years ago plunged the world into nuclear chaos, killing everything and sparing no one. We survived only because of vaults: underground bomb shelters used to protect people from the blast above. They worked and we have sustained ourselves ever since. Sure, our numbers have decreased, but we're still alive down here, right?"

"I don't know about you, Mr. Douglas, but I'd like more room, Jace smells awful." I looked at Chip with hate as he made his insult.

"Hahaha, you're the funniest." I muttered.

"Now, now Chip. Let's take care not to make fun of other students, shall we?"

"Sure thing Mr. Douglas."

"Continuing with my lesson, from what our records show, the country of China nuked The United States of America around 2070 in the most popular cities. This includes a city called New York and Washington D.C. which is the area surrounding our vault. Since a bomb hit here, the Overseers across our time here deemed it unsafe to reopen the vault due to the possibility of a contamination in the air."

"Bullshit." Someone said.

"He says it's for your own good guys." A girl's voice informed.

"Aww, that's nice, daddy's girl." Chip said grinning.

"Shut up, Chip." The bell rang and we all clamored our books together to get up.

"Wait a moment Rachel. You too Jace." Mr. Douglas called us over to his desk.

"Don't take Chip seriously you guys, you now he's having a hard time with his family issues. He doesn't get the attention that he needs from his parents anymore."

"Yeah, we're all aware of his mommy problems" Rachel said sarcastically.

"I'm glad it's not bothering you, and it shouldn't. Have a nice day now, you two." Rachel and I walked out of the classroom to get lunch.

"Do you believe Chip? It's hard enough being who I am without him adding insults on top of it."

"Everyone knows Chip is a little girl under all those half-baked insults. I'm pretty sure he knows it too." I told her. Rachel and I walked to lunch with the other six students and sat down at a lunch table. I looked down at my tray. The rations we had were what we've always eaten: insta-mash and steak. I sighed as I ate the bland food.

"What's wrong, Jace? Chip didn't get to you, did he?"

"Chip's not getting to anyone, especially the girls around here." Rachel laughed at that.

"It's just... don't you think there's something else we could do here? With the vault, I mean. Maybe we could get more food somehow... I don't know."

"I totally understand, I asked my dad the same thing, 'but this is life here. We might be the only people left living in the world, and we're trying to make the best of it'." She quoted her father.

"Yeah, I feel like a real savior of humanity." I sighed as I forked the rubbery meat.

"You know there are times I think that nothing even happened out there, that the bombs didn't even hit, and everyone can't free us from out there. I just want to know, dude." Rachel told me.

"I wish we could, maybe your father could let us leave the vault, explore."

"You know my father; he's stubborn and fixated on the 'saving of our vault'. I just wish he'd let us decide." The bell rang and Rachel and I walked out for our next class.

"No its fine, fascism always works." I said sarcastically.

"Welcome back, kids." Mr. Douglas smiled as we walked inside and sat back down in our seats.

"I hope this time our fellow students won't interrupt my lesson today." Mr. Douglas glared at Chip.

"How dare they, Mr. Douglas?" Chip pounded his fist on his desk in faux fury.

"This is important, people. When a student reaches the age of 16, he or she must take the G.O.A.T. or the Generalized Occupation and Aptitude Test to show what their priorities are in the vault when they get older. If you guys don't take this seriously, you might end up in the reactor level, working with the pipes when you were made to be a doctor."

"Or get stuck with your job." Chip said quietly.

"So it is _my job_ to present these questions for you, so you can live happy and productive lives. Everyone has a job to do and we're going to find out what it is."

Mr. Douglas handed out paper to us, and everyone got started on it. The first question: who is the supreme leader of this vault, the person who we have everything to thank for, including our lives? I rolled my eyes and wrote "The Overseer". I heard Chip sigh when he read it. The next question was when I started to get confused. I read it and it asked: You want to play a prank on your father, who is out of the room, so you sneak into his private bathroom and... a blank followed afterwards. I read the question over and over. Why am I being asked this? Mr. Douglas looked at me and nodded his head. I looked at my classmates, who also were startled by this question. I poked Rachel's black hair with my pencil and asked her if she understood it. She didn't. I started to think about the question being asked. What would I do? After some thought, I wrote my answer. I read the next question. It was similar to the last. It read: You found a lost boy in the lower levels of the vault. He is afraid, but also appears to be in possession of stolen property. What do you do? More questions formed instead of answers. What does this have to do with job placement? How often do children commit grand thievery and get lost in the process? I scratched my head and thought about my answer. He's just a kid, but he also stole from someone. What should I do with him? I made a decision. I'll take him out of the lower levels, but confiscate the stolen property. After I wrote it down, I felt bad for what I did. The feeling ambushed me; I've never felt this way before, then again, I've never thought about these things.I couldn't think this way, it was impossible for me. I got stuck on the next problem, and a few seconds after I wanted to rip my paper in half, Rachel got up.

She got up to hand her paper into Mr. Douglas. When she reached his desk, my classmates looked at her as if she said something to them. She gave her paper to Mr. Douglas and he smiled. She then sat back down. Frank, a classmate of ours asked how she was already done. She told him it was easy after a while. He told her he was still on the third one. She shrugged. I sat in my desk for what seemed like an eternity until the bell rang. Rachel and I were going to do what we always did at the end of the day, go to the doctor's office to see my dad and grab a bite to eat afterwards. On the way there, I asked Rachel about the practice test.

"How did you finish that fast? I had to give fake answers just to finish in time."

"I don't know it seemed natural after a while. You just had to think." She told me.

"Thanks for the compliment. That test is going to be impossible for me tomorrow. Hey, are you going to the self-defense class today?" I asked.

"Not today. Why, are you?"

"As much as I would like to kick Chip's teeth in, it's not going to be fun not having someone laugh with me about it afterwards." We laughed and continued down the hallway to my dad's office.

Rachel and I walked into dad's office. He was giving medicine to Stew, who has been sick with a cold from working in the reactor levels. I approached him my father.

"Hi Jace. Hello Rachel."

"How goes it dad?"

"Things could be better, Jace. The medicine we have here is becoming ineffective to people. I need something stronger."

"Anything we could do to help?"

"There's nothing you can do. This medicine is 200 years old; no one can make it better."

"Sorry to hear that Jim." Said a voice from behind me. We turned around to see The Overseer standing in the doorway, listening in on the conversation.

"I know things here aren't the best, but we're trying to make do. I've been trying to come up with a plan to help the vault, we'll see if it's ready soon." The Overseer walked out of the office and all three of us stared at each other.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not sure." I said with a puzzled look on his face.

"Be safe you kids, it sounds like there's change brewing in this vault." My dad said, returning to his desk. Rachel and I walked out of the office and towards the diner so we could eat.

"What do you think he meant, with his 'plan'?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting worried about my father. He's changed so much when he became Overseer. He barely talks anymore, and he's aged so much." Rachel looked worried after saying this.

"Don't worry, your dad's smart. He'll straighten up when things start to calm down and this 'plan' comes into action."

"I hope so."

We were almost to the diner when we met Chip in the hallway. He turned towards Rachel and walked towards her.

"Hey Rachel." Chip smiled, trying to act friendly.

"What do you want, Chip?" Rachel seemed more annoyed by him than usual.

"I just wanted to say sorry, for the jokes I mean, you know it's a joke, right?"

"Oh please, get away from me Chip."

"We're just trying to get some food, Chip." I interrupted.

"Stay out of this, kid, unless you want me to beat the hunger out of you."

"Wow, cool. So apparently you're not here to apologize, huh?" I asked myself out loud.

"Can't you see we have somewhere to be?" Rachel told Chip.

"Fine, I don't need an ugly chick like you anyway." Chip said, trying to encourage himself.

I looked at him angrily, and then at Rachel. Her face said 'don't do it', but I couldn't let what happened happen. I turned Chip around. "Apologize for what you just said." I ordered.

"Why? Her dad's a failure, and she's no less! Her family screwed everyone in here!" Chip shouted.

"Hey, what's going on? Break it up!" Security intervened. They broke up the argument and sent us on or separate ways. I turned towards Rachel, who looked saddened.

"Come on, let's get something to eat." I said, trying to encourage Rachel. We walked into the diner. Rachel and I like eating here because Chip doesn't. We ordered our food and apple desert, which was a nice treat for us. We sat down at a table and asked for our food. We gave Lauren, the girl who works there our ration coupons to eat, and she went to get our meals. In a few minutes she arrived with it.

"So have you seen your dad do anything out of the ordinary?"

"Most of the things he does now is out of the ordinary, I wouldn't notice it if he did." Rachel looked down at her steak.

"Alright, well we shouldn't worry about it now."

"Yeah, we should worry about the GOAT." Rachel and I finished our steaks and Lauren came by with our desert. As a way to cheer Rachel up, I gave her my desert.

After our food, we both got up and headed for home. The lights were dimmed, which meant it was time to sleep. Rachel and I were about to go our separate ways to our homes when we heard a noise. We turned to see Chip, stumbling over himself, with a bottle and ration coupons in his hand. We tried to ignore him, but he had other plans. He waddled over to us with a gazed look on his face.

"Hey... Reh-Rachel." Chip mumbled.

"I can already tell this is going to end badly. I announced quickly.

"What do you want Chip? We're busy."

"Busy? With this guy?" Chip turned to me. His breath smelled foul, every word was like a blast of rotten food.

"Wh-why do you always...hang out with this guy? What's… wrong with me?" Chip hiccupped.

"He's my friend. You know-something that you're not?"

"Chip why don't you just go back home, call it a night?" I intervened again.

"No, and if you... keep talking to me I'm going to send you home to your pappy with a project for him to work on." Chip was getting irate, although it was hard to tell with his slurry words.

"I… I guess that was a threat. A 'project'? Like, what is that?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Alright." I sighed as I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Chip just calm down an-" Chip punched the side of my head and I stumbled backwards and hit my head on a wall and fell over, dazed.

"Chip!" Rachel screamed.

"That's cool, not like I didn't call it at the beginning of this comversation or anything." I mumbled as I felt my jaw.

"Just come out with me, you know you like me." Chip grabbed Rachel's shoulders, squeezing her harder with every word. I had to stop this; I struggled to get up from the blow to my head.

"Chip get off of me!" Rachel grabbed Chip and threw him against the wall. He looked at her in surprise that someone so small could be capable of doing that. He recovered and raised his bottle towards her and swung. I grabbed Chip's arm before he could strike and he dropped the bottle. As it shattered to pieces, I shoved Chip to the ground and punched him as hard as I could, letting out all the rage that has been kept inside me for so long. I continued punching him, blood flying onto my fists.

"If you ever touch her again, I'll kill you! Do you hear me? I'll… I'll kill you!" I roared at him. I got off of him and turned to Rachel. She sat there, terrified. She backed away from me. I reached my hand out to her, and she ran away. My stomach hurt, and my head spun, the same feeling I got when I took the G.O.A.T. I don't know what I just did, but I felt sorry for it. I looked down at Chip, who was knocked out and grabbing his bloody face. I picked him up and carried him to my dad's office. I put him on a stretcher, and my dad look at me and jumped up from his seat.

"Jace, what happened? What did you do?" My father ran to Chip and began examining him.

"He was going to hurt Rachel, and I couldn't let him. I just... I don't know."

"His nose is broken and he's cut up bad. What exactly did he do?"

"He was going to break a bottle over her."

"You mean he was drinking?" My dad didn't seem too surprised.

I looked at him in response to his obvious question.

"You said Rachel was with you, where is she?" Dad cleaned up the blood from Chip's face.

"She ran away. I-I've never seen her like that before."

"It's all right son, Chip will be fine, and Rachel will forgive you. Just give it time." My dad bandaged his nose and cuts and I washed my hands.

"No, no she won't. I honestly don't even know what happened. She's never seen me like that before, and I don't want her to see me like that ever again." I sat down in a chair and looked at my hands. My knuckles were red and bruised.

"Listen to me son, time is what we have a lot of here, and that's more than we can say about what's outside. Your mother wanted you to live a happy life here, and you can do that now."

Chip groaned. I didn't want him to see me when he woke up, so I left. I went home and sat in my bed. I sat there, wondering what my life is even about, why I was even here, living this life. It took me hours to fall asleep.

I woke up to an announcement on the intercoms.

"All citizens are to report to the Atrium immediately." I got up and put my blue jumpsuit on and walked out of my door. When I got to the Atrium, a crowd had already formed, and the Overseer was in the middle of it. I walked into the middle of the crown and saw Chip with his bandages on, when he saw that I was looking at him, he turned away.

"Citizens of Vault 101, I speak to you in a time of great need. As you know, our vault has sustained our lives here for generations, and it seems we have a catastrophic problem. Our supply of food and water is dwindling, and we are on the verge of starvation. We have enough food to last us about two years."

The crowd started to chatter, people started shouting and yelling, but was quickly calmed down by our security.

"But I have come up with a plan. A plan that could save us from death." I still didn't understand, but Rachel did. Her eyes flicked from side to side as she put together a complicated puzzle. "I would like to say that I have failed you as a leader. Slowly as the generations of people passed, we have learned to be too comfortable, too dependent. We have lost the ability to think for ourselves. No longer can the general public think uniquely, and it is not your fault, it's mine. And now, there is only one way this can be fixed." He sighed after this. Rachel looked at the ground and blinked. Her heart dropped as she looked up and made eye contact with her father.

"I have chosen through our student body who exactly has the greatest capability to explore the unknown, to save this vault from extinction, to use their mind to look after themselves, and only themselves. Who, from the 'practice' G.O.A.T. testing, can make rational decisions that can keep themselves alive in the world outside." The crowd talked amongst themselves, but were once again calmed down.

"That person is…"

I looked over to Rachel as her face became pale. She shook her head and looked up at her father, who looked at her. His eyes saddened and he turned his head to the other side of the room.

"Jace Marston." The crowd moved away from me and now I was the center of it. I looked up at him, and then at my peers. Rachel's mouth dropped, and she looked at me. My stomach hurt.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: I'm a Marston**

"Jace, are you willing to plunge our home out of the darkness, and save your loved ones?" I looked to my side and I saw Rachel staring at me, her mouth open, her head shaking slightly. I raised my head.

"I'll… do it." I said with no emotion.

The crowd gasped and was followed by talking. The Overseer raised his hand to quiet the crowd.

"Very well. Meet me in my office to discuss your objective." I turned around and walked out of the crowd that continued to stare at me. I walked into the Overseer's office and saw him sitting in his desk.

"It's a brave thing you're doing." He said to me.

"Yeah."

"It's time to talk about what you're doing exactly. Samples of the air outside by our scientists show that it still is safe to breathe, so you are to go out and find food, supplies and water to bring to us. We will give you the finest equipment we have to do it."

"Alright."

"Follow me to the armory so we can get you suited up." I followed him into a room with armored doors. The Overseer opened it with a keycard. The doors slid open and revealed a wall filled with equipment. The Overseer took weapons and equipment from the wall and put it into a black, single strap pack and handed it to me.

"Keep this pack on you at all times, it's important. It's got medicine for you, and extra ammo for this pistol." The Overseer handed me a holster for the gun and put the pistol in the bag. I put the holster on and put the bag on.

"Meet me at the vault doors when you are ready." I walked out of the armory and through a hallway. I fell against it, with my armor and weapons slumped against me. I was scared, I was sad. I cried and thought about what was happening. And when the last tear drop fell off my nervous face, my brain snapped, and I figured out something that I would learn to hate and love at the same time. I was alone. And my first order of business was blaming others.

I left my home and walked down the hall to the vault doors. There, I saw The Overseer, waiting for me. The Overseer opened the blast door. I pulled him over to talk in his office.

"Yes, Jace? Ready to leave already?" The Overseer asked.

"Why did you lie to me?" I asked.

"Lie to you about what?"

"Why are you trying to have me killed?" I demanded an answer.

"Well, I gave you a gun."

"You're not telling me anything about what I'm doing!" I shouted.

"You're better off not knowing the truth, Jace. There are just some things in here that you can't or won't understand." The Overseer postulated.

We looked at each other. I looked into that liar's eyes and felt like I knew everything there was to know about him.

"Who was _really_ the candidate for this?" I asked him. He seemed to have been caught off guard for the question. He sat in silence.

"It was Rachel, wasn't it?"

No response.

I shook my head and exhaled in anger. "You… coward." "No." He retorted quietly. "You couldn't throw away your own flesh and blood out there, but you could throw _me_ out, no problem?!" I yelled. "No!" He said loudly back. "She's stronger and smarter than I'll ever be and you're too afraid to let her go and do what's right!"

"You leave Amata out of this!" He yelled at me in blind rage.

I looked at him with my eyebrow up. He stared into my eyes, he knew his mistake.

"Who the hell's Amata?" I asked him.

There was more silence as The Overseer sat down in his chair. The rumble of machinery in the door behind us rattled as it slid open. Rachel walked through the door.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing." I said dryly.

Rachel pulled me aside and held me by my shoulders. She looked into my eyes, hers were as red as mine. She had been crying, too.

"Why?" She asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you going out there and throwing your life away?"

"Rachel..."

"Answer me." She seemed angry.

"Do you know why I did what I did to Chip? He was going to hurt you, maybe worse, and now everyone, including you, are in danger. What choice do I have? You know me more than anyone else, how can you even ask that question? I _have_ to." My voice was stern, but she understood.

"'Have to'? Or 'Want to'?"

"The only thing I _want_ is for you to be safe, for my dad to be safe, because our moms weren't. Now they're gone and I don't want that to happen again." I walked away from Rachel and went inside my home. My father was sitting there, waiting for me.

"We need to talk, son." My father said. His jumpsuit was off, and he was wearing an old leather jacket over a white t shirt and boxers. He didn't face me as we talked.

"Talk about what?"

"I tried so hard to keep you safe, but now, there's nothing I can do about it. It's in _your_ hands. And before you go out there and make something of yourself like I know you will, I have to tell you everything… everything… All your life, I've been lying to you."

"What?"

"Your teacher says the vault has been closed for hundreds years. He's wrong."

"How?"

"There is life out there, there are still survivors, and we were living among them. When your mother had you, we decided this isn't the life we wanted for you, we wanted you safe. We searched almost every vault in D.C. All of them were empty, destroyed at times. When we finally discovered this vault was here, you were four we started heading towards it. That's when we were attacked. Raiders wanting to murder us and steal our supplies. They shot me and I was bleeding out with you in my arms. The leader, a young guy, they called him Chain grabbed her. He took her...h-he took Cindy and he... " I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"They left us to die afterwards. I managed to get up and crawl into the vault's outer chambers. I begged The Overseer to let me in on my dying breath. He only did it because I was with you. She wanted you to be safe, she didn't want this for you, to go back out to the same place she died in. And when he opened those doors, the raiders poured in, and since Rachel's mother was head of security… she got taken, too."

"I thought they died in a riot here."

"It _was_ a riot. Just not in the sense that you thought."

"Like mom, I have to do this to save the ones I love."

"It's not that black-and-white, son. You're a child."

"I have a chance to do something with myself and I'm doing it. There's nothing you can do about it... Goodbye dad, I love you." I hugged him, and he just sat there, empty inside as his bloodline was detached from his forever. I walked to my dresser and packed extra clothes and put them in my bag. I walked down the halls to the blast door, where Rachel was waiting for me.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned.

"I just wanted to see you off, say goodbye and good luck." She hugged me.

"Please be safe." She whispered.

"I promise."

"There's going to be change here, I swear it. We don't have live in secrets anymore." I added.

I walked out the blast door and it opened up into a small tunnel. I grabbed my pistol and put it in the holster and followed the tunnel until I saw light. I gasped and swallowed hard.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Escape!**

I followed it until it opened up into a large room with a giant blinding light in the middle of it. I covered my eyes with my hand until my eyes adjusted to it. The light bulb was bigger than I thought; I couldn't see the wall it was put on. I was too busy focusing on the light that I didn't notice people were watching me. Someone smacked me in the back of the head and I fell over. I looked up and three men were staring at me and were wearing weird clothing and carrying weapons. One jumped on top of me and pulled out a knife and held it up to my neck.

"A vault dweller, huh? Chain would sure like this one" I recognized that name and I needed answers right then and there.

"Where's Chain?" I demanded.

"You're in no position to demand things, my friend. The only thing you should demand is for a quick death... and some fighting skills. You kind of suck at this." The raider raised his hand and brought it down. I grabbed his wrist as he pushed the knife lower and lower. I grunted as the knife slowly approached my neck. The raider clearly had an advantage in strength. The tip of the knife touched my neck and started to stab my strained, veiny neck. My muscles were in agonizing pain in my hopeless attempt to keep the raider at bay. My arms were about to give out when a raider behind him was shot. I pushed him off of me and took out my pistol and shot him until all the bullets left the gun, leaving it empty. The other Raider took out a gun and aimed it at me. I thought he was going to kill me when a woman came out from behind me and punched him so hard he flew into a wall. She had long brown hair and dusty clothes; she looked around my age, but acted very mature. I aimed my gun at her.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we just saved your life." She said as she crossed her arms.

"We?"I was confused. At that moment I felt something jab at my back.

"Yes. We." A man said.

"S-Stay away from me. Both of you." I ordered.

"Nah." The male told me from behind.

"I don't like having a gun in my kidneys." I said.

"Well if you like, I'll put it up your ass, whatever you prefer." The man said back.

"You're planning on shooting him in the ass?" The woman asked her partner.

"Yeah. That ought to hurt."

"How would you like it if _you_ were shot in the ass?" She asked him.

"Listen, if I get shot in the ass, I want our friend here to take the bullet out for me." He motioned as he poked my back with his rifle.

"Alright, let's just chill. We'll lower our weapons if you lower yours." The woman assured. I looked down to see her weapon, but she didn't have one, just a gauntlet on her hand. After seeing what she did to the raider, I didn't want to try her. I lowered my gun and so did the man. He walked from behind me and stood next to the woman. He was wearing a stained red cloth wrapped around his head with dirty beige clothes and a satchel with a rough, brown beard and unkempt hair.

"You see? We're friendly." The woman nodded.

"Who are you people?" I asked.

"This is Joe, and I'm Victoria. We're from Megaton." She pointed to the horizon and I spotted a black figure.

"He doesn't know what that is, haven't you noticed? He's a vault dweller." Joe said, pointing at my jumpsuit.

"You don't know where you are, huh? Well, welcome to The Capital Wasteland!" Victoria shouted, raising her arms up in the air.

"This place sucks." I sighed as I looked around the dusty room.

"So, there's people living in there, I thought they all died, all the people in the other vaults did." Joe had an amazed look on his face.

"We thought the same thing about people out here. Well, most did." I said, looking back at the tunnel.

"So, why are you going out here, then?" Victoria inquired.

"We're running out of supplies." I responded.

"And they only sent you?"

"Yes."

"Well it's official, our friend here's half-retarded." Joe joked.

"Well, if you're looking for food, you should come with us to Megaton, it's a town some people built made entirely out of scrap. If you're a hipster, you'll love it." Victoria assured.

"I love it already." I said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, what's your name?" Joe asked.

"It's Jace." I introduced myself.

"Well, nice to meet you, Jace." Joe smiled as he patted me rather hard on the back. I followed the two down an open path called a 'road' and asked them questions about The Capital Wasteland. Apparently, the big light bulb isn't actually a light bulb, it's called a 'sun', and it's not on a wall, in fact, there aren't any walls at all. The 'sky' as they called it, is endless. We followed the weathered away road until it led to some walls stacked high. I found out that they were homes. I asked Victoria why they didn't make the town here and she said that the houses were useless and burnt up, and it turned out, all of them were. Some were even completely demolished by the blast. I also asked them what a 'vault dweller' is, and they just told me it was a nickname for people living in vaults. After my questions subsided, the two started asking me what it's like in the vault. I told them about Overseers and how we got food with ration coupons. Joe laughed at the thought of Overseers in the Wasteland and Victoria told me they used paper currency out here, like they did years ago, before the bombs hit. Joe asked me how big the vault was, and I felt compelled to answer. I told him about the diners, the atrium, and how my dad was a doctor and how he wanted me to be one. He called me lucky, because the doctors out here barely use sterile tools and lack experience. Joe told me a story about how he was shot in a fight and had to go to a doctor to get the bullet out. Victoria laughed and told me how he screamed like a girl when they pulled it out.

Eventually, we made it to Megaton, at a time when the sun disappears and it gets dark. Victoria called it a 'sunset'. The town looked fascinating. A giant rusty door powered by a spinning fan opened upwards when the guards saw us, and the three of us walked in. I've never seen so much darkness, only when I slept. I asked Victoria how people live like this. She told me it marks the time when people should sleep. When she told me that, she remembered that we have to get to bed. They purchase a place to sleep in a place called a bar, which is a place to get food and drink, and apparently beds. We walked into the town, which looked empty in the darkness and walked towards the center, where I could make out a light. We walked up some metal stairs, which creaked and bent with every step. As we approached the bar, I could hear faint talking inside the building. As we opened the door, the faint talking turned out to be a large group of people drinking and partying. We walked in and heard a raspy voice from a man.

"Victoria, Joe! Welcome back!" The raspy voice called out. We turned to see a man with a cut up face and falling off skin. I gasped and backed away.

"Aw shit, no! Ew, GOD, fuck!" I screamed.

"Nice to see you too, smoothskin. Who's this shit-doucher?" The man asked through his raspy throated sounds.

"His name's Jace. He's a friend we met out in our patrol." Victoria answered.

"Really? A vault dweller, huh? Nice to meet you, I'm Jab." He let out his hand. I pulled out my hand and shook it. His skin felt clammy, and cold. It felt like it was about to fall off.

"Ah, right. Never seen a ghoul before, huh? It's alright; my brother and I get a lot of guff for it."

"I meant no disrespect, I-I just never seen this before." I stuttered.

"Well alright, if you ever feel like you want to berate me, I'll be at the bar counter." Jab nodded. Victoria paid for my room and Jab walked away and started scrubbing the counter with a dirty cloth.

"Don't worry about Jab, that's just his attitude all the time."

"What happened to him?" I asked, still horrified.

"It's the radiation out here, you take in too much, it changes you. Most of the time, your body dies, but you don't. We call it 'ghoulification' out here. Ghouls are everywhere; I heard they even have a whole town of them." Victoria said calmly.

"What's a smoothskin?" I asked.

"It's a nickname ghouls use to call regular people because we made the nickname 'ghouls'. Doesn't hurt as much as calling someone a 'ghoul', but whatever, they're trying." Joe answered.

"I feel like… I feel like that's referencing something." I questioned his choice of words.

"Dunno what you're talking about, cracker." Joe said as he took a drink to his mouth.

"It's late, we should get some sleep." Victoria said to us.

She showed me to my room, which was upstairs and right next to Joe's. I creaked open the door and looked inside. It was cramped and had a bed with stained sheets and a dresser. It wasn't like home, but it'll have to be for now. I sat down in the bed and took off my holster belt and my pack and set them on the dresser. I lie down in the bed and put the sheets over me. I fell asleep easily.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Different**

I woke up in the morning, with the sun shining through the old metal in the wall. I then got up and put my gear on, ready to see what the outside had to offer. I walked downstairs and saw Joe and Victoria sitting at the bar, eating. They turned around and said good morning. I sat at the bar stool next to them.

"How'd you sleep?" Victoria asked.

"Good enough." I replied.

"Don't mind the stains, you'll get used to them. And don't try to think about what they are, too." Joe said. Victoria elbowed him in the ribs.

"Good morning, smoothskin. What'll you have?" Jab asked.

"Get him what we're having, Jab." Victoria requested. She handed him the 'money' as she called it and Jab handed me a bowl. It was a greenish-yellow water and had bits of food floating in it.

"It's mole rat stew. Try it." Victoria assured. I took a wooden spoon Jab gave me and took a sip. It tasted mildly sour, but went down well enough. I finished the bowl and gave it to Jab to wash.

"Hey Jab. I want to say I'm sorry about last night, I just didn't know, I'm still getting used to things out here." I expressed.

"It's all right kid, I guess you didn't know any better. Thanks for being nice about it, and not yelling at me like other people." Jab nodded.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me Doctor Whatisthat, we got to get you some new clothes." Joe said.

"W-Was that another reference? And why?" I asked.

"Otherwise people will think you don't know anything about the Wasteland with that… thing on you." Joe informed me.

"Isn't that what people think of you?" I joked around.

"Wow, we've known each other for eight hours and you're already insulting me? Cool, dude." Joe said, putting his arms up.

"As rare as it is, Joe's right. People will think you don't have Wasteland smarts if you run around with that on." Victoria said as she tapped my jumpsuit. I flinched.

Joe and Victoria finished their food soon after and we got up and left the bar. We walked down the rickety stairs and Victoria pointed out the general goods store. We walked inside of it. Inside, there was a woman with red hair sitting at the counter with weapons and clothing behind her. She looked up at us.

"Hey guys! Who's your friend?" The clerk said with a cheery tone.

"Morning, Moira. He wants some clothes, as you can see; my friend here is in need of some fashion sense." Joe said as he laughed. Victoria rolled her eyes. I looked at my jumpsuit with the vest over it and shrugged.

"Of course, of course, let me see..." Moira said as she examined my structure.

"Here we go; I've got something for you." She laid out some clothing on the counter.

"We'll take it." Victoria said with a nod. She gave her the money and took the clothes and we left. We made our way back to our rooms at the bar. I asked Victoria what these where called. She pointed out a dusty white shirt, some faded and dirty brown pants or another name was 'jeans', faded brown sneakers, and a green over shirt, which she said is supposed to go over my white shirt. Joe was upset after I put them on correctly because he wanted to see me change into them in the wrong way. I told them I knew how to put on clothes; it's just like a jumpsuit, just separated, I wasn't stupid. I walked into my room and put them on. I walked out and looked at my new clothing.

"See? Now you look normal." Victoria smiled.

"I could pull off the look better." Joe shook his head. He took another elbow to the ribs by Victoria.

"Alright now that you're Wasteland savvy, we can talk to the mayor to get your vault some food." Joe said.

"Mayor?" I asked.

"Kind of like an Overseer, just with much less power." Victoria informed me.

"_Much_ less. From what I heard, it's kind of… communist-y there." Joe added.

"Alright, let's go." I said. The three of us walked downstairs and left the bar. We walked towards a building that looked grand considering it is made out of scrap metal and knocked on the door. Inside was a man sitting at a desk with a duster and curved hat, sporting a weapon that looked stronger than mine. He looked like a cowboy from the vault comic books.

"Something happen on the patrols you two? Who's this?" The mayor said. He had a gruff and deep voice.

"No, just some raiders like always, that's where we picked up this guy. He's a vault dweller, says he needs some food." Joe said to the mayor.

"Well, howdy. The name's Larry Simms. I'm the mayor here and sheriff too, if the need arises." The mayor said.

"Rehearses that line to himself every freakin' day. It's weird." Joe whispered.

"I'm Jace." We shook hands and he examined my clothing.

"So you guys bought him some clothes? Why's that?" Larry asked.

"We were wondering if he could help us on our patrols to pay for the food." Victoria told the mayor.

"And the clothes." Joe mumbled.

"How much food are we talking about here?" Larry asked.

"We need food and water for about 75 people." I explained.

"That many people in that vault, huh? I thought there'd be more." Larry sat back in his chair.

"So can you do it for me?" I asked.

"We're going to need something more for this...partnership. What are your skills?" Larry questioned. I told him about my minor medical experience along with the self-defense training I had along with the classes that I took in the vault.

"Well, you have more experience in medicine than most, and you can fight. Patrolling the outer city will be a good job for you. As for this water situation, our town is having a water problem as well. It seems that the purifier isn't working to its full potential, why don't you head out to the water plant and help out over there. You start patrols tomorrow. Victoria and Joe will tell you when they are ready to patrol."

"Thank you Mr. Simms." I nodded.

"Call me Larry." He said back.

"Don't… don't call him Larry." Joe whispered.

The three of us walked out of the building and Victoria pointed me to the water plant. This is where we went our separate ways, because they had to go and prepare for their patrols for the night. I walked across the town and made my way to the plant. The door had a sign on it that said it was the water plant and I walked in. A young man with brown hair and a shaved beard greeted me on the way in.

"So, what brings you here?" The man asked.

"Larry Simms sent me here to help out." I answered.

"Well what do you know about piping, son?"

"I know a decent amount of maintenance."

"Good enough for me." The man walked me over to some rusty pipes and pointed to them.

"We've got a problem in the piping, when the radiated water passes through, this pipe is supposed to purify it, which it's not. I thought we could take it apart and see what the problem is, but that would cut off the town's water supply and I don't know if I could get it back together."

"It purifies the water? Well then inside there should be a bunch of metal work, probably rusted as well as the pipes. It's probably jamming and just letting some of the irradiated water go through, while leaving some purified. If that's the problem, than we should definitely cut off the water, because the people could get poisoned by it."

"Any plan's better than none." The man shrugged.

We took out the pipe and unhinged the bolts. Inside, the metal work was lodged and letting some water flow out, like I said. We replaced it with a new one and put the pipe back together. The old man tested the water afterwards.

"Well I'll be. You fixed the water! I could learn a thing or two from you! Here, take this, dude. It's the least I could do." The man gave me some money and I looked at it in my hand. This is the first time I've touched money before. It felt rough, but also had some smoothness in it. I smiled and said thanks.

"Hey, what's your name, kid?" The man asked.

"It's Jace."

"Well thank you, Jace, you just helped out the town a whole lot. By the way, I'm Walter."

"Nice to meet you, Walter." I nodded.

I walked out of the plant. The sun set again and it seemed darker before than yesterday, although I could see pink light on the horizon. My eyes strained to see things in the dark; I could barely make out the bar. I shuffled my feet over to the building and went inside. I opened the door to the bar and saw a circle of people who were shouting, something more unusual than what I saw there yesterday. I walked to the center where two men were fighting. One was using random objects to beat the other. Blood was flying everywhere, staining into the rusted metal on the floors. He got on top of him and started punching and cursing at him. Blood was all over the man's arms as he punched angrily. This sight felt familiar to me, and hurt my stomach and head. I remembered Chip and I. I looked closer at the other man who was getting beaten by the other.

It was Jab.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Natural**

I ran into the circle of people and pulled the man off of Jab and punched him in the face. He was clearly stunned and he stumbled back. I picked up Jab and sat him in the chair quickly as he fell over himself, panting. I yelled at the man.

"What's the matter with you? Leave him alone!" I shouted.

"That damn ghoul messed up my drink and that ugly piece of trash has the audacity to talk back to me!" The man shouted.

"Holy shit, I had no idea you could contemplate words like 'audacity'. Congrats." I tested him.

"Contemplate _this_!" He yelled.

The man regained his balance and ran at me. I moved to my side, held out my arm to the side, and in front of him, and kicked his back legs. He dropped to the floor and got up quickly in a huff, and started at me.

"Really? 'Contemplate _this_'? Work on your fighting lines, dude, that was just sad." I insulted.

He punched me in the face and I drew blood from my nose. I felt the blow in the back of my head. The man then turned his attention to Jab, who is spitting blood onto his counter. The man grabbed Jab's neck and threw him over the counter. I ran to them man, kicked him in the back of the knee, making him stumble, and threw his face backwards into the floor. The man smacked his head into the metal floor and I got on top of him, the burning feelings in my body raging as I kept seeing Chip's face. I kept punching him in the face until I couldn't see the white of his teeth anymore. I grabbed him by the shirt and brought him close to my face.

"You listen to me and you listen good, because I am not repeating myself. You leave him alone, and you leave all ghouls alone. Tell your friends this, because I'm not doing this again." I told him.

I punched him as hard as I could in the face and he fell back on to the floor. He grabbed at his face and moaned while I got up off of him. I turned to see Victoria and Joe staring at me. This Deja Vu turned out to be different, because Joe was laughing hysterically, while Victoria was smiling and clapping. I helped Jab from the floor and sat him down at a stool.

"You all right Jab?" I asked, sniffing and wiping the sweat off of my brow with my sleeve.

"Nothing that won't heal, or fall off the bone that is." He giggled for a moment, and then broke out into a cough.

"I don't even know what the cuts are and what your normal face is, Jab."

"Pfft. Funny." He sighed with a semi smile.

I grabbed a cloth and ran it in the water. I told him to leave it on his face and put pressure on it until the bleeding stops. Joe and Victoria came up to me.

"That was great, kid! I've never seen anything like it!" Joe said, still laughing.

"What was that all about anyway, why all the anger?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know. I'm just tired." I shook my head.

"Whatever it is, it's great! You'll have the raiders shaking in their boots with that stuff!" Joe exclaimed.

"So what are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be patrolling?" I asked.

"We kind of had a problem, we'll tell you about it later." Joe shook his head.

"Did you fix the water problem?" Victoria asked.

"Yep, it was a simple problem; the guy there just needed another person."

"Good, the mayor will pay nicely for that." Joe said.

"Actually, the guy there already paid me." I showed them my money.

"Nice, now you get a bonus." Joe hushed with his finger, as he tried to take my money. Once again, elbowed by Victoria.

"Now that you have some money, we're going to have to teach you how to use it." Victoria said. We went upstairs to Victoria's room and we sat down in her chairs. Her room was bigger than mine, with a bigger bed. She noticed me admiring her room.

"Once you get some more money, you can pay for a better one." Victoria ensured.

She asked me for my money and I gave her it. She showed me how the numbers on the money show how many I have, they're called 'bills' and the more I have of a high number bill, the more money I have. It's similar to ration coupons, except one bill isn't worth one unit of money, or 'dollar'. After my lesson and some thought, I found out that Walter gave me 35 dollars. Joe then taught me some Wasteland 'slang' as he called it, and identified all the popular foods that we have along with words and several weapons that the town has available for purchase. He told me about 'shotguns' that shoot several projectiles at close range, also 'rifles' which is what he uses. They are usually long ranged and slow, although some are automatic, which shoot fast, along with other weapons that are frequently used. I pointed to Victoria's gauntlet and asked what it was. It had black metal with scratches on it and a yellow cloth draped around it. Joe said that Victoria found it on a raider and he called it a 'Power Fist' and that the name just stuck afterwards. Victoria then said that after inspection, she found out that it is a pneumatic gauntlet, which meant that it was air powered. The weapon must be pumped with compressed air before a battle, when she punches somebody with it; all of the compressed air is released, adding to the force of the impact. After a basic lesson in what Joe called 'Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge', I went downstairs to eat some food. Jab gave me some mole rat stew for free for what I did. I ate it up and then went to bed and meditated on the things I have learned today.

I woke up fairly easy that day, and went downstairs to have some mole rat stew. This morning, Joe and Victoria weren't down here, so I ate anyway. Jab was antisocial when I greeted him, so I just ordered my food. Jab's cuts stopped bleeding, but were still noticeable on his face… I think. I quickly finished my meal and walked to the mayor's office to collect my award. I walked into his office and he was sitting at his desk, speaking to some guards. When he saw me walk in, he sent them away.

"Hello, Jace. Fix that water problem yet?" Larry asked.

"Yep, it was a simple fix and the water tested out perfectly clean."

"Good. At least something in this town went right. Here's your pay." Larry said as he handed me 50 dollars.

"Thanks!" I said with a smile.

"Now that you solved one problem, I was hoping that you could help with another." Larry said, itching his beard.

"Sure, what's the problem?"

"Joe and Victoria came to me last night with some news. The raiders are planning to launch an attack on the town. I've sent my security out instead of them to foil the attack, but they haven't come back, so I'm sending the three of you and the rest of my security force to protect the town in case the raiders stopped them. Your pay will be triple the normal wage of patrolling the town and we will see about establishing a partnership with your vault. Can you do it?" The mayor pleaded.

Thoughts ran through my head after this. If the security force can't stop them, how can I? I've already seen and heard what raiders are capable of; do I even stand a chance? I need to save the vault, if I die, what would make the mayor want to help everyone in there? If I say no, the vault won't get its food. I had no choice.

"Okay." I said with a nervous tone.

"Great. Meet the security force outside the main gates at sunset." Larry said.

"Sure." I said, I grateful that I knew when that time was.

I said goodbye to the mayor and walked to the store to spend my money. I walked inside where Moira was sitting at the counter. I said hello and saw what she had to offer for my money. Being paranoid and afraid for my safety, I purchased some medical supplies which included hydrogen peroxide, bandages, painkillers and an AED. The purchase cleaned out my newly made money, so I walked back to the bar, where I saw Victoria and Joe eating at the counter. I overheard their conversation.

"C'mon Vee, we got this! We have enough firepower! Plus, Simms said he'd get Jace to help out." Joe slapped her shoulder.

"That's what I'm afraid of; I don't think he's ready for this kind of stuff. He hasn't seen a fight like this before. You remember how he handled himself." Victoria said back.

"You saw the kid fight! He's a natural fighter! Think of this as some practice." Joe said.

I walked towards them.

"And there he is! So kid, did the mayor talk to you about our problem?" Joe asked.

"Yeah he did." I said.

"So what did you say?" Joe asked with anticipation.

"I'm in." I nodded.

"Alright! Let's show those raiders a thing or two!" Joe shouted, raising his beer up.

"You've been drinking?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a moment, confused. "…yeah?"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Blood**

I ordered some noodles in a bowl and some 'Nuka Cola', which Joe told me was 'soda', or sweetened water with my money. The vault never had soda, and I wondered why. I read the label on the soda and frowned at the irony in the name and took a sip. It tasted delicious! I kept drinking it until I noticed I already drank half the bottle. I started eating the bowl of noodles after my discovery. Out in the Wasteland, the noodles are different. They're soaked in broth, and spicier than the ones in the vault. The ones there were bland, while these actually tasted better, and were spiced. I finished my food quickly and met Joe and Victoria upstairs. I walked into Joe's room and saw them both loading up weapons. Joe's room was much like Victoria's, and had relatively cleaner sheets. Joe was adding extra rounds for his rifle into his satchel and Victoria was reloading a backup pistol and pumping her Power Fist. They turned to me as they cocked their weapons.

"You have extra rounds for your pistol?" Joe asked me.

"Yep." I said. I took out my pack and put the bullets into my pocket. I forgot to reload my pistol after my first fight. After some quick lessons from Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge, I've figured out how to reload my pistol. I cocked back the barrel of the pistol, took out the clip, placed bullets into it, and put it the clip back inside the gun, pushing he barrel pack into the normal position. I holstered my weapon.

"You're learning, kid. One day, we can actually call you a Wastelander. But for now, I guess… regular kid with a butt chin works." Joe said with a smile.

"So how'd you find out what the raiders were planning?" I asked.

"The bodies outside your vault were dragged to a nearby camp. Turns out, those guys were close to Chain, and know he wants revenge. The camp had about twenty or so raiders, after we overheard their conversation, we ran back to town." Victoria explained.

"Yep, it seems your more trouble than you're worth." Joe patted my back.

"We'll see tonight, won't we?" I said, adjusting my holster belt.

"Wow. Haven't even killed a person yet and you're cocky?" Victoria smiled.

Joe sighed and exchanged a look with Victoria. They then both turned to me. "I have a question for you Jace. I've been meaning to ask it." Joe looked into my eyes.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked.

"When we first saw you at the vault and the raiders talked to you, you said that you knew who Chain. How?" Joe asked. His face was serious, which I've never seen before. Victoria looked at me for the answer as well.

"Well, other than being a total douche-nut, he-" I was interrupted by a gunshot, echoing loudly in the town, making al conversations downstairs end abruptly. We turned towards the exit and heard several more.

"Well that was coincidentally timed." Joe looked at me.

We all sprinted towards the main gates. People ran by us, some of them pushing us out of the way to run from the gunshots. A select few were screaming for their lives. I sighed in annoyance at their yells.

"The sun's still out, why are they attacking?" Joe asked as we clamored down the stairs.

"I don't know, but get your weapons ready!" Victoria said as she got up quickly and held her pistol in her free hand.

I took out my pistol and we all ran to the main gate. It was already opened. Outside, the horizon was a sea of raiders, brimming from left to right. The security force, along with Larry were shooting back and taking cover. The three of us separated and ran for cover. Joe turned to me.

"Get in cover, you idiot!"

I sat behind some rocks and shot at the seemingly endless wave of raiders. "Geez, did you forget how guns work?" Joe teased me. "Now's not the time to annoy each other, Joe!" Victoria screamed over the gunfire. "Uh, nag, that'll get me to fight harder, Vee." Joe sighed in verbal irony as he popped from his cover and shot. The wall of raiders charged all at once, and overwhelmed most of the security force. Bodies dropped, bullets ricocheted off the walls, and then came the worst part. I shot every raider I saw as they rushed towards the gates, shooting their rifles at everything they saw. One raider roared as he ran at me, shooting the rock that I was hiding behind. As soon as the bullets stopped, I popped up from cover and shot at him. Blood splattered on the rocks and on my clothes. I closed my eyes and wiped my face from the blood, sighing and turning my nervous face into a courageous expression. My eyes opened to see a horrific sight, making my courage wither away in the dry wind.

The raiders started to use grenades.

"JOE! MOVE!" Victoria screamed at him as one landed next to him. "I know how grenades, work, Vee!" Joe retorted in a scream as he ran away from it and slid behind an old car. Explosions went off in every direction and shattered my ear drums. I shouted to Joe and Victoria to focus fire on the grenadiers and pointed to them. Victoria turned from her cover to shout something, but a grenade went off and she was caught in the explosion. She flew from her cover, flying through the air, and smacked onto the floor. Her body was out in the open, yet away from the attackers. I sat and stared at her lifeless body in with my mouth open.

It caught us by surprise, what was once an everyday sight for Joe turned into a nightmare as the reality of his situation became apparent. Joe sobered up instantly, and his face changed as he saw her on the ground. He got up to help her but a bullet sparked off his car, keeping him pinned. He screamed something inaudible to my ears as I stared at her. I got up to ran from her, but Larry pulled on my shoulder and shook his head and said something, but I couldn't hear over the firefight and my ringing ears. I pushed him off of me harshly and got up. I left my cover and sprinted to her, bullets whizzing past me. She was face down on the floor and wasn't moving. I flipped her over and Joe ran towards us. Her head was bleeding and was dripping down towards her face. Dirt and ash covered her body. The explosion was close to her, but all her limbs were intact. She started to hemorrhage and spit blood and I scrambled to get my pack off. Bullets popped from the dirt around me.

"Joe! I need you!" I shouted at him. He instantaneously popped out of cover despite the fire keeping him pinned at managed to get a few shots out from his rifle as the raiders turned their attention to him.

I took out my medical kit and poured the hydrogen peroxide on her wounds, while ripping cloth off my shirt to stop the bleeding. I had to get her out of there. I lifted her up and told Joe and Larry to fall back into the city. I started to walk towards the gates, sparks flying off the walls and explosives going off in every direction as the rest of the force was crippled from the massive firefight. I tried to talk to her and get her to listen to my voice, but she didn't respond. Her head bobbed up and down, blood now dripping from her onto my arms. Her skin was cold, her eyes glazed and stuck on mine. I lumbered faster and faster to the gates. I heard a loud noise and looked at my legs. Blood splattered from my left kneecap and left abdomen. I fell to the ground, dropping Victoria to my side. Never in my life would I ever want to feel that pain ever again. The first time I had been shot was so crippling, I shudder to this day when I remember it. I turned and exhaled in panic to see a group of raiders, finishing off the rest of the security force. Larry turned his head to yell, but he was executed on the spot. Joe turned around to me, and stopped running and I looked towards him. I shook my head at him, and pointed to Victoria. Joe's face was confused, but he knew what I wanted to say. I grabbed my wound and groaned in pain as the blood oozed endlessly from me. I turned to the raiders and saw one in the middle that looked cleaner than the rest. I tried to crawl away, dragging blood on the ground. He wore a metal chest piece with an old road sign attached to it and directed his troops into the town. I knew instantly who he was.

The battlefield was dead silent now, with only Joe and I still conscious to understand what was happening. My back on the ground and facing the leader, I turned around. "Get inside." I said quietly through my pain. He looked up at Chain, and then down at me and dragged Victoria into the gates. The townspeople slammed the makeshift gates shut behind them. I scrambled for my pistol and took it out, aiming for his head. He took out a pole wrapped with bicycle chains with an exercise dumbbell attached to the end and swung it at my arm, disarming me and sending my gun flying to the left. I struggled to move onto my stomach and started crawling with my hands and right foot. My blood stained the dirt around me and I tried to hold onto to being awake. I heard laughter from behind me as I lifted up a knee and brought myself up; straining my stomach wound and sending me back down into the ground with a strenuous screech. Sweat was running down my face, my shirt was drenched at the collar.

"Well, well! We have a hurt little puppy, who wants to finish him off?" Chain announced to his men.

"I know you… you're Chain." I said, out of breath.

"In the flesh!" He said with a wolfish grin.

"I—I'm gonna—gonna kill you." I huffed as my face turned pale. I looked at my gun off to the side. "Uh-huh. And how are you going to do that? There's only one of you, and all of us." Chain said, looking around at his men.

"I don't care- long as you're dead… I'm happy." I blacked out for a second and reopened my eyes.

"Why all the hatred, boy? By the looks of it, I'm doing you a favor." He smiled as he pressed his foot on my knee, making me shout out to the skies above. Twenty feet away behind the safety of the walls, the townspeople waited quietly with whatever guns they could find, listening.

"You kill people. You… don't… care who." I choked out. I pointed to him, my arm shaking. I moaned and pulled my arm to my wound.

"Wait a minute; I sense a little personal vendetta here! Let me explain something to you kid…"

"I bet you came out here, ready to kill me, right? Obviously that failed and made you look like a major pussy. That's how this life is lived, hermano; people have dreams and they soon figure out the opposite is going to happen. It hurts, in this case it might kill ya'."

He and his men laughed with him. The adrenaline used to keep me conscious was starting to run out, and my anger was the only thing keeping me awake. I heard the gates open behind me, letting out citizens of the city, armed with weapons. They all ran towards the raiders, shooting them. Chain looked and me and pulled out a pistol. I saw a glint of light flash and then blood splatter from my body. I fell over, coughing up all the blood I had in my body. A puddle of blood surrounded me as I watched Chain run away, unscathed as his men were fighting ruthlessly. Another lowly raider went in to finish the job, but Walter ran to him raider and shot him with a shotgun. The townspeople including Moira and Jab were fighting the remaining raiders with the only weaponry available in the town. My eyes closed and I was choking to death on my own blood. My ears started to fail on me and the sounds of battle turned to booming and echoing sounds, drifting slowly away as my eyes closed, looking up at the sun. That was it for me.

I heard someone run over to me and say that I was going to be okay, but to me, it sounded as if they were intentionally trying to be quiet. I heard him muffle a word to the town doctor and he rushed over. It felt like he checked my pulse. My last sound was someone screaming and cursing at the doctor to help me.

I opened my eyes to a bright and blinding light. I used my hand to cover the light source, as I did when I left the vault. Eventually the light calmed down and I could see again. I studied my surroundings and saw that I was in a room. It was big and spacious and had soft flooring. I looked over and saw a woman standing with her back facing me. I ran over to her and she turned around. She had dark hair that was long and wavy with green eyes. I studied her and then the room and turned back to her.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"Don't worry, Jace. You're Here. And we need to talk." She said with a soft and elegant voice.

"And where's that?" I asked, confused by her answer.

"It's not your time yet, Jace. They still need your blood." She looked at me, her smile turning to a frown.

"Who are you?" I asked, still confused by her.

"Don't be angry at him." She said.

"Who? Chain?" I asked.

"You're not ready for a lot of things. A victory. A family. A legacy. A bloodline. An end of all things." She said as my confusion grew.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You may need more than you let on. Keep safe." She said.

"Are you my mother?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"You need to do it for them. Keep them close, keep him away. All relative, even if out of order." She said.

"But he killed my mother, and he doesn't deserve to win." I said to her.

"Strength, Jace. You're made for a lot of things, but not everything. That's why we have blood." The stoic told me.

I felt a breeze at my back, and turned to see the giant room falling to pieces, being sucked into a vortex. The walls and the flooring ripping to shreds and disappearing into the giant vortex. The breeze grew into a ravaging wind, almost knocking me over with its power.

"You have to go now, Jace. I'll see you sooner than you want to. Happy testing." She said in amidst the giant storm.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Again, Again**

I closed my eyes and cover my head from the vortex. I opened my eyes and I was in a room with people surrounding me. I was lying down at a table from the looks of it. I looked towards my body and looked at it, and then felt all the pain of the battle.

"Ah crap, nurse, I don't think his eyes are supposed to be open." A man said nervously. I screamed and tried to breathe in air at the same time. "Oh, he's _definitely_ not supposed to be making that sound!" The man's voice said in alarm.I felt like I was being torn to shreds with knives. A person held me down and told me to stay still. The pain was so excruciating that I felt that I had to move. I continued to scream until I was out of breath. My head was dizzy and I felt I was going to pass out. I looked at my body again as the room spun and my I panted. Blood poured from my stomach and I couldn't feel my leg. I let my head fall back and I blacked out again. "Well that was weird. Care to get some coffee?" The voice muttered. I opened my eyes and saw a man studying me with a ophthalmoscope. I felt tired and hurt, but not as much as before. I looked at the man.

"Ah, you're finally awake! Another fine job by Doc Hill!" The man exclaimed.

"Where am I?" I asked him, my throat hurting and my voice as raspy as Jab's.

"You're in my office in Springvale; your friend brought you here after some nasty fight in Megaton." He told me.

"Springvale?" Once again, confusion was all around me.

"Yep, not too far from Megaton. You're other friend is here, too by the way. A looker, I must say." The man smiled and winked.

"I really hope you didn't take care of her." I muttered.

"I need to see them now." I said, trying to get up. My abdomen ached and I grabbed my wound. I was shirtless and a long bandage covered my lower torso.

"You're not going to be doing anything with your wounds. It's a miracle that you're living. A miracle by me, Doc Hill!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, I figured out your name, I get it." I said, not amused by his attitude, figuring I just came from being shot by the man that ruined my life.

"You took two bullets in the stomach and one in the leg; you need some time to heal and some medical therapy." He told me.

"I don't need anything right now; I just need to talk to my friends." I said, becoming annoyed by him.

"Ooh, looks like you need more than just _medical_ therapy it seems. Only one of your friends is here, and she's hurt still. Took a nasty blast from a grenade. Almost made her unattractive, but my standards are low, I guess. That and I'm a bless-ed healer." He said, shaking his head.

"I wish I could punch you." I said weakly.

I sighed out painfully and held my stomach wounds. "Is she okay?" I asked.

"She's living, if that's what you mean. But conscious? Nope. Tried slapping her awake, but that just gave me a raging b—"

"Great, so they dumped us here to die then, is that it?" I said, making it clear I was aggravated.

"Sorry friend, but you and your friend have been out for a while now. It's been a few weeks." He said.

"I've been here for weeks?!" I shouted. I tried to get off of the table but my leg felt like I was mutilated at my appendages. I yelped and fell to the floor, keeping my mouth wide open and trying not to scream. Doc Hill picked me up.

"As hilarious as that was to witness, my medical opinion states that there's nothing you can do now with those wounds, just sit here and let them heal."

"Can I at least walk around?" I asked.

"Fine, but don't do anything extreme, like jumping jacks or paragliding, you don't want to break your stitches. To be honest, _I_ don't want you to break your stitches, I made a little smiley face out of them and you'll just ruin it." He said. He gave me some crutches and opened the door.

"I'll send a courier to tell your friend you're awake." Doc Hill informed me.

"Thanks. And thanks for helping me, Doc." I said, slightly regretting the words.

"Not a problem. Not like I get paid in pussy for this job." He said quietly.

"Huh?" I asked him.

"Have a wonderful adventure!" He said loudly as he waved me away.

I crutched outside my room into the hallway. It felt natural using these crutches, because I used to hurt my legs all the time when I was little. I used to play in the atrium of the vault every day, running around it or playing tag with the other kids. Remembering my life in the vault made me hate its lies even more. I moved down the hallway and peered into every room, seeing the various patients. Doc Hill was right, I was lucky. Almost every patient looked as if they were about to die. Eventually I found Victoria's room, where she laid in a bed, with various medicines around her. I sat in her bed and looked at her. Her face still had cuts and dirt around it. The explosion looked like it tore away at her back, because she had bandages all around her torso, but I didn't see any blood. The bandages were around her like a jacket, and looked as if a doctor had put more on after the original. I noticed a bottle of lotion next to her on a nightstand. I raised an eyebrow at it. I noticed that her Power Fist was missing, and not anywhere on her bed. I got up and searched the room, trying to find the weapon to give her at least some sentimental value if she ever wakes up. Every crutch around her room made me feel like I was being shot again and again. Eventually, I gave up and went back to Doc Hill, who was looking at my medical clipboard.

"Have you seen my friend's gauntlet? She had it on her during the battle." I asked him.

"I put it on the desk next to her after I was done-ah… probably hoodlums took it." He said to me.

"Yeah… hoodlums." I said, looking at the room across from us, where a man had an amputation.

"So, how are your wounds?" He asked me.

"Well, they're still wounds." I said sarcastically, confused and a little annoyed by the question.

"HAHAHAAHHAAAAAH!" Doc Hill burst out a laughter so cackling and dry it made me cringe.  
"We'll start your therapy tomorrow, when you can rest on your wounds. Keep up that humor, I almost peed mysel—and I peed a little bit." Doc Hill said as he quickly and awkwardly left the room with a clipboard in hand.

"Alright." I said, sitting back down at my bed.

I lay down in the bed. I thought about my vision. Was it a vision, or was I just dreaming? Was that woman my mother? If she was, why did she tell me to forget about Chain? I need Joe to get here to get the vault its food before they run out, but I also need to kill Chain before he rallies more raiders and takes over the town again. Now I can't do anything about it when I'm in here. I closed my eyes and waited for me to go to sleep; waiting hours trying to find a position that didn't make my body feel like it was on fire. I woke up and got up from the bed. I grabbed my crutches and walked down the hallway. I stopped at Victoria's room and looked inside. I frowned at her state of being and kept walking until I got to the front desk. I saw Doc Hill writing and went up to him.

"Good morning! Ready to start your therapy?" Doc Hill asked.

"Yeah, sure." I said tiredly.

We went to a room in the clinic that was open with different types of equipment. Doc Hill walked me over to a part of the room with a mat on the floor and rails above it. He told me to walk without my crutches and use the rails to balance myself. I gave him my crutches and grabbed the rails. My leg ached and I groaned and fell over onto the mat. The mat smelled horrible so I scrambled up onto the rail and used my left leg to pull myself to my feet. I continued to walk, despite the agonizing pain. My legs started to shake and sweat rolled past my cheek. I started to breathe heavily and put all my weight on my arms. I stopped walking to catch my breath, but my arms gave out and I fell onto the mat again. I moaned and stayed on the mat. "Stand up, you're not—you're not supposed to be on the ground, you know." Doc Hill told me. I caught my breath and stood back up. I finally made it to the end of the railing and turned back to him. He told me to turn around and come back to him. By body screamed for rest as I continued to move across the rails, my arms shaking and my face strained as I made angry faces, as if they would help remove my pain. "Stop doing that, that's weird." The Doctor said with a judging face. This pattern of moving, falling and getting up continued for the next 30 minutes. Doc Hill finally handed back my crutches and said I'm making progress. I didn't respond to him and crutched back to my room. I sat back to on my bed and grabbed my wounds, hoping to stop the pain. Eventually I adapted to them and the pain subsided. I lay down to take another harsh nap.

I woke up and got on my crutches and moved to Victoria's room. I sat on her bed and looked at her. I felt awful about what happened, and wished she can get back up. I heard that people can hear you when you're like this, so I started to talk to her.

"Hey, Victoria..." I sighed, looking to her.

"I'm guessing we won that fight, since we're both here, huh?" I sighed and smile when I looked at her face.

Her face was still and she breathed easily. I waited for a moment, substituting her breathing as a way of talking.

"Look, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but I don't care. I need to tall someone about this; I don't even care if they're unconscious." I said tiredly.

"Come out the closet, come out the closet…" Doc Hill muttered form the doorway in anticipation. I turned around to him and he ran away like a little girl.

I mustered up enough courage and looked down with my eyes closed, saying "I didn't leave my vault to get food for my people or to kill Chain."

"I left because I don't belong there." I said, looking up at the wall.

"I needed to be different so badly that I went out here and did this. I wanted to be different, I wanted to think differently like my friend Rachel. The truth is I'm so adjusted to the vault, that I'm still scared of leaving it now. It would have been different if Rachel left. She wanted this more than I did."

"I did this to you; I'm the reason why you're like this. I can't think the way you think; I can't be 'Wasteland savvy'." I expressed.

No response, as was regular by now.

"I'm sorry, for what it's worth, and I wish it were me here, then maybe you can just go home and forget about meeting me. That would be better than this..." I said, looking at her hurt body and face.

"Well, that's it for now, Victoria. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, trying to get up.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: All in the Blood**

I got up finally onto my crutches and crutched back to my room. Doc Hill was inside waiting for me. He said the courier had been sent and that someone would come for me in the next few days. I said thanks and sat back on the bed. I looked at my bandages closely. I bled a lot around my stomach and the doctor had to add more bandages, but blood poured from those and stained the bandages on the outside, but it was minor. Blood was also splattered on the lower part of the soft pants the doctor gave me. I looked down at my leg and saw that blood came from the back of my lower knee and my front. I guessed that the bullet went through my leg and that it had to be stitched in both places. I was weakened from the therapy and my head continued hurting, so I told Doc Hill.

"Put these in your mouth and swallow. They're probably not roofies. Probably." Doc Hill instructed me as he handed me a glass of water.

The water tasted awful and dirty, but I took my pills anyway, regardless of the water's state. I looked closer at the cup and saw that it was tinted brown. I frowned in disgust and put the cup at my bedside. I lay back down and waited for the medicine to kick in. Eventually my pain numbed and my head cleared up. I felt at peace. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep. Doc Hill walked in a few minutes later. "Ah shit, they were roofies. Well it's not like he'll remember taking them, anyway. Where'd I put my lotion?"

The next few days were repetitive: wake up, therapy, medicine or roofie gamble, talk to Victoria, eat, sleep. After a few days of this, the pain in my leg felt lessened and Doc Hill told me that I should try walking without crutches because of my progress. I gave him the crutches and began to walk on the mat. I didn't need the bars, but my legs still hurt. My walking seemed semi-normal, with the occasionally limp of my leg and the slump forward of my torso when I try to straighten my back more than I should. He congratulated me and gave me back my crutches just in case. He said soon I can walk around without crutches, if I keep doing certain equally painful stretches with my body. I took my medicine and went back to sleep in case they were roofies. This time, I woke up and finally felt normal (they were still roofies). I got up from my bed and started to walk around my room without my crutches. My leg shook but not as much as before. I started to walk around the hallway, smiling at my progress. I went up to Doc Hill and he smiled at me and clapped his hands. He got up and I followed him back to my room. He opened a closet and gave me back my clothes. My clothes were even more dusty and had large blood stains on them with tears in the stitching riddling them. I put on my shirt and jeans and left my green over shirt in the room.

"You seem healthy enough to me to waltz your way around town, friend." Doc Hill smiled.

"You just make sure you come back here every day for treatment, you might be able to walk, but you ain't nearly as close to being fully healed." He warned me.

"Aright. Thanks Doc Hill, for everything that you've done." I smiled, shaking his hand.

"Don't worry about it. It's bad for you. Seriously, your heart can't handle that many processes, you've been roofied, like, fifty times this week. That's gonna fuck something up inside you."

Doc Hill gave me a bottle of painkillers or possible roofies and my pack. I put the bottle in my pack and put it on my back. I walked out of the clinic and looked up at the sky. The sun scorched my eyes like it did when I left the vault, but I adjusted faster this time. I walked around the town, holding my abdomen wounds. I finally saw how this town looked. Burnt out houses have been transformed into buildings held together by wood and scrap. People in cheap clothing all gathered around fire pits to warm themselves up. Children ran around the town, chasing each other with pre-war toys that seemed almost as dirty as they were. I wandered around, looking at what the people here did. Makeshift signs made out of random junk showed above the rebuilt buildings. I stopped walking and caught my breath, holding my arm onto a wall and resting on it. I felt weakened again and started to turn back, telling myself I wasn't ready for this. My ear caught a sound of some people talking loudly as I walked, and I couldn't help but turn. A group of people surrounded one as he talked to them all. His posture looked like he was gloating to the small crowd, raising his upper body towards the people, but still trying to be taller than everyone else. I walked over to hear what he had to say, my curiosity outweighing my tiredness.

"Yep, found this thing in the clinic, has a bunch of gadgets and contraptions on it, but it looks cool! How much you guys want for it?" The young man asked the crowd.

He held up a black large piece of metal with a yellow cloth draped around it. I looked closer at it and saw that it was Victoria's Power Fist. I glared and clenched my fist, but let go as it hurt too much.

"Wonder how much this thing would cost, what do you guys think? 50?" The man positioned the bargain. I went up to him.

"Give that back! It doesn't belong to you!" I shouted as I tried to grab it. The young men and women ran off and I tried to chase them. My leg started to hurt and I fell to the ground, slamming onto the dusty ground hard.

"Come back!" I coughed, raising my hand at them, and trying to grab them at the distance I was laying on.

Each cough hurt my chest, and I felt like blood moved up from my throat every time I coughed. I gasped for breath and finally calmed down. I pulled myself up, writhing with pain. I breathed in deeply and walked back to the clinic. I went to Victoria's room and sat down at her bed, putting my hands on my lap and panting.

"I'm sorry, Victoria. I found your Power Fist... and I lost it. I tried so hard to get it back, but I just couldn't." I sighed.

"I just… couldn't do it." I sighed.

"But I'll get it back... one day." I said, getting up to walk away.

I saw someone standing in her doorway. He was a tall, built and hairy man with a beard and red bandana. My face lit up and I limped faster to him.

"Joe! Thank God you're here, you've got to do something for me, I-"

"People saw you at Megaton talking to Chain before the town rebelled. Why were you talking to him?" He asked.

"What are-" I was interrupted by him.

"_Why were you talking to him?_" He said with a stern and serious voice. I sat down at Victoria's bed, and sighed as I looked at him.

"My vault is dying, that's true. I was sent out here by my Overseer to get some food for them, too. I only went out here for one reason, though. When I was young, I was born out here, but my parents didn't want this for me, so they found a vault. They were traveling to one when raiders ambushed them. Chain shot my father and killed my mother and then left us for dead. He ruined my life, my family, so I wanted revenge. I went out here to kill him. I just didn't expect this to happen..." I looked at Victoria in grief.

"This is my fault; I didn't want this to happen. She's like this because of me, and now everybody is going to die, except him. I'm sorry that I did this to you, I am. I tried to end it right there, but I just couldn't do it." I held Victoria's arm and looked at Joe.

Joe sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that I thought... it's just that Larry is dead along with most of the security and the town has no idea what to do with Chain still on the loose. Larry's kid's been taking it rough, too. Not… not in _that_ way." Joe told me.

"I wish I could do something about it, I wish that I went and killed him as soon as I left the vault. Instead... all this happened. I couldn't have ever predicted this." I said, looking down. Joe exhaled through his nose.

"Hey… cheer up. You helped the town too, we wouldn't have clean water without you, and now Jab is getting more respect after what you did." Joe patted my back and smiled, hurting me. I winced and then I elbowed him in the ribs. "Not you, too." Joe moaned.

"As soon as we heal, I'm going to help you guys. Things are going to change." I promised.

"That's the spirit, kid! Hey, nice beard by the way. Not as good as mine, though. Been growing this out for five years." Joe said with a smile.

"Beard?" I asked. I walked to a mirror in her room and looked at my face. A brown stubble covered my chin. I rubbed my hand against it and felt its texture. It was rough and prickly as it scraped against my fingertips. I turned back to Joe.

"Nice, huh? Anyway, I'll rent a place in town and wait for you to heal, just tell me and we can head back to Megaton." Joe nodded.

"Alright." I said.

"Glad you're all right, buddy. I am." Joe nodded. He walked out of the room and down the hall.

I went back to my room to sleep, happy that I had someone here with me, someone that I can actually have a conversation with. I continued my daily routine for the next week, making my mind set to going back to my peak condition, even if it meant unbearable pain. Eventually, my legs stiffened and became usable. Doc Hill said I was a fast healer and congratulated me again on my progress. I went to Victoria's room to talk to her. Her face was calm and she lay motionless on her bed, as she has always done for weeks now.

"I think I'm better now, Victoria." I told her one morning.

"And, uh, Joe and I will be leaving to go back to Megaton soon." I said hesitantly, acting like she could hear and understand every word coming out of my mouth.

"Please wake up, Victoria." I begged.

"Please don't be like this forever, I can't sit here and watch you like this, knowing that I did this. This feeling is…" I sighed, getting up. I couldn't put into words my experience in the Capital Wasteland thus far.

"Joe and I will come back for you, I promise." I said, shuffling out of the door, and not turning back to her.

I went outside to walk around and see what it's like with my feet working again. I saw the buildings again and everybody walking around, saddened by the state of their lives. It was a depressing sight how bad this town was that people had to steal from the ill to get themselves in higher standards. I saw the shops around town, barren from anyone willing to spend the little money they had. I felt my pack and walked inside the nearest shop. I checked my bag to see if I still had my money, so I can get something that wasn't slightly irradiated water. I had a few dollars, so I continued inside.

"Welcome to Food and Shit. How may I help you?" The bored clerk spewed her rehearsed line. "I would like… food? And… not… shit?"

I paid for some food and water and walked out, happy that I won't have to eat more bland crackers and protein supplements. I brought the box of steak and put it in my pack along with the water.

I walked outside, and started to pull out my water and drink it, wiping my lips with my arm afterwards. As I rested against the wall, I spotted a group of people walking down the street. One person strayed from the group, walking in front of them all. I saw that it was the man who stole Victoria's Power Fist. I walked up to him and grabbed him by the shirt, not thinking for a second about the men behind him.

"I told you that this doesn't belong to you, now give it back." I said, holding onto the Power Fist.

"What are you going to do about it, fall asleep on me?" The man said as he tried my patience with a grin as cheap as his clothes.

"I'm not the one who's falling asleep today." I threw him and he stumbled to the floor. We raised our fists at each other, and startled the men walking behind him.

He threw a punch with the Power Fist and I dodged it, pulling it off his hand and onto the ground as he stumbled back from his attack. I came back with a hook to his cheek with my bare hand, making him move back for a moment, recovering with an angered huff. He ran at me and charged me into the ground. He threw a punch at my face, smacking my head into the dusty ground. I kicked him off of me, and brought myself to my feet, feeling the pain in my stitches. He got a jab at my head and it knocked my head back. The weeks of staying motionless were shown in my bones when my neck popped and cracked with the punch hitting me. I kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the face as he grunted loudly. He tried to kick me with a side kick, but I caught his foot and let my elbow down on his knee. He fell to the floor, sobbing angrily as he made it his goal to take me down. He struggled upwards and punched my face and pushed me backwards. My lip started to bleed and my wounds started to burn on my body from moving. The man shouted with a bloody smile and the group of men ran from behind me, flanking me easily while I was fighting. Four men started walking towards us both and I turned to them. I knew that I couldn't take them because of my wounds, and I realized I bit off more than I could chew. I knew I needed a gun, a weapon or anything but there wasn't anything near me.

The man that I was fighting smiled at me and I remembered my past experience with Chain. I told my ego that we weren't running. I ran at the man and tackled him at the stomach, landing us into the ground. I picked up the Power Fist from the ground and started compressing the air with a lever on it as I got off of him. The men took pieces of wood off the street to use as weapons and ran at me. I readied the Power-Fist and gasped a quick breath and leaned against the wall, my lungs burning and my body in pain. The men stopped as a figure steeped out of the darkness and faced them.

It was Joe, armed with a 2x4 found off the street. He waked to one of the men and broke it over his head. I ran up to the remaining men and proceeded to fight. One man swung down a piece of wood over my head from my right. I moved back and it got caught between two buildings. I kicked the piece of wood and it broke in half, sending shards of wood into the air. I punched the man with the Power Fist and he rolled back into the ground, kicking up a dust cloud around him. Joe punched a man in the stomach and he swung a metal rod at the side of his head. Joe ducked and grabbed the man's arm and took the metal rod from him as Joe held the man's arm down. He swung it at the man and made a loud noise as it clanked against his head, echoing the attack at the rod's hollow center. The man fell over and grabbed his head in pain as Joe held the ringing metal pole, and waked away. I ran to a man who pulled out a knife at me and started to jab at me. I moved back as Joe called to me. "Watch the dick-head here!" he shouted as threw the metal rod at the attacker's head. Blood flew from his mouth and he barreled into a wall and slumped against it. "Pole beats knife, douche-cheese." Joe taunted him.

"Hey!" A man screamed loudly at us.

Joe and I turned around to see the man who stole Victoria's gauntlet aiming a small gun at me. I put my hands up as the man wiped blood from his cheek, squinting his eye at me and raising the pistol. Joe quickly pulled out a pistol from his pocket and shot the man in the chest. The man fell over and pulled the trigger on his gun before he hit the ground. The bullet flew off into a wall, shooting out the dust trapped in the hard wall. I caught my breath and looked at Joe.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: You're Welcome**

"Holy shit! You killed him!" I shouted.

"Eh, probably. So what was that all about?" He asked as he holstered his pistol.

"The guy stole this from Victoria." I showed him her Power-Fist.

We turned away to see the man Joe shot gurgle out sounds and flap on the ground.

"Excuse me, can you shut up?! We're trying to talk!" Joe yelled at the dying man.

"Anyways, that explains why you did so good in that fight!" We both laughed.

The man gurgled and choked. We ignored it.

"So why didn't you use your gun in that fight?" I asked.

"It wouldn't have been a challenge—"

The dying man coughed and spat and shouted.

"Oh my God, shut up!" I yelled as I pulled out Joe's gun and shot his body four times.

"Let's get this to a safe spot." I said as Joe smiled at me and held up his arm for a high-five. I slapped him back as we walked past the bodies.

We made it back to the clinic and into Victoria's room. We decided to keep her gauntlet in my pack, since I keep it on me all the time. I sat down in her bed and sighed.

"We did it, Victoria." I said with a smile.

"I got your Power Fist back." I said, jingling my pack.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked me.

"Talking." I answered.

"Jace, she's in a coma, she can't hear you." Joe squinted.

"How do you know?" I asked, looking at her.

"Alright, you can do you what you want. I'm just telling you that it's a waste of time." Joe said as he got up and washed his hands, smelling them after he cleaned them. "Why do I smell lotion?" Joe asked himself quietly.

I grabbed her hand and continued talking as Joe looked down at her. Joe rolled his eyes and bent down, mumbling something to himself.

"Are you sure she can hear me?" Joe asked.

"Do you want to keep guessing?" I asked him. Joe looked at Victoria as she slept on the bed.

"Hey Vee, you look fat in those pants." Joe said loudly, bending his head towards her ear.

"Yeah, she can't hear me. Those are her favorite pants." Joe said, getting up and dusting his knees of the dirty floor that he kneeled on.

"C'mon, Jace. Let's get going." Joe said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

We got up and started to walk out when we heard a noise, we turned around to Victoria. Joe's face turned to horror, as if he saw a zombie rise from the dead.

"Was that a fart?" Joe asked.

"Shut up and listen." I whispered quickly, looking into the room.

Victoria started to gasp and then hum, loudly, making Joe and I run to Doc Hill. He went into the room and inspected her eyes. "You didn't roofie her, right?" Doc Hill asked us.

"Wha—Ho—How is that even a possibility? What the hell goes on here?" Joe asked him.

"Oh, _there's_ my lotion." Doc Hill smiled as he lifted up the bottle next to Victoria's bed.

"I'm sorry I brought you guys here." Joe mumbled to me.

"Hey Victoria. If you can hear me, I want to say that you... look really weird right now. And I'm 75% sure I'm smelling your farts right now." Joe told her.

"Victoria, hear our voices and concentrate on us, can you do that?" I asked.

"Yeah, please wake up so we can finally get paid for that job." Joe said, looking down at her.

"Aren't you supposed to be her friend or something?" I asked, turning to him.

"_And_?"

"What do you mean, '_and_'?"

"That was it-that was the end of my sentence, I wasn't going to add anything else to it. I put a period at th—"

Victoria started to move and her eyelids slowly opened. The three of us stared at her in anticipation as she wiggled around in her bed. Her eyes fully opened and she stared at us.

"Joe, stop staring at me like that." She said softly.

"Nice to see you too." Joe said, backing away from her in relief.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in a huge dump of a town." Joe said. Doc Hill glared at him.

"I'm gonna go put my lotion away." Doc Hill muttered angrily as he left the room.

"What happened?" She asked.

"The raiders got you with a grenade. You've been out a month or two." I explained.

"Jace? What are you doing here?" Victoria asked as she sat up in the bed.

"He took three gunshots trying to carry you into town." Joe told her. Victoria smiled, but hid it quickly.

"Are you all right Jace?" She asked me in her post-comatose state.

"Yeah, I gave Joe quite a scare, though." I said with a smile, crossing my arms and standing next to him.

"You wanted me to leave you there!" Joe exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever, chickenshit. So, can you walk?" I asked her.

"Let me try." Victoria said as she pushed her arms from her bed.

She got up from the bed and moved around with shaking legs. She grabbed at her back in pain, and winced. Doc Hill went back into the room, his body glistening for some reason. We stared at the glowing man with a bottle of empty lotion in his hand.

"Hi, I'm your doctor." He said quietly.

"Was-was I raped while I was here?" Victoria whispered to us.

"To be honest, I—I dunno. Anything could have happened here" I whispered back as we forced a smile at Doc Hill.

"Wow, everything hurts." She winced, breathing in.

"The blast took apart a piece of your back; it should be healed right now, thanks to me! I just need to remove the stitches. And as much as it will hurt me more than it will hurt you, I'll need to take yours too, Jace." Doc Hill frowned; contrasting the smiley face on my stomach.

Doc Hill led Victoria to a room and took out her stitches. She left with her old clothes on that were just as dirty as mine. Doc Hill called for me afterwards to remove mine. It felt awkward cutting away the stitches and pulling them out of my skin. I soon got out and stretched my back, sighing in relief. I picked up my pack and pulled out Victoria's fist as we walked down the corridors.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Here's your Power Fist." I handed Victoria her Power Fist out of my pack.

"Why did you hold on to it?" Victoria asked.

"Well, some of the refreshing citizens in this lovely town stole it, and Joe and I got it back. I've been holding on to it for safe keeping." I answered.

"Huh. I felt like that was the case." Victoria said, looking outside.

I looked at Joe with a smile and he rolled his eyes at me.

"Listen, now that both of you are here, I wanted to talk to you about something." I said, sitting down on a chair in the front office.

"What's the matter? Need to learn about the birds and the bees?" Joe smiled. Victoria elbowed him the stomach harder than usual.

"Why do you do this?" Joe grunted, looking up at Victoria as he bent over in pain.

"I just felt like I needed to do it more that time." Victoria explained.

Joe shrugged in absolute surprise.

"Do these pants look nice to you guys?" Victoria asked.

"Blood stains are always in style, Vee. Now what is it you wanted to talk about, Jace?" Joe asked with a wink to me.

"When Chain shot me in that fight, I passed out... and I... I went to some place." I explained.

"I felt like I was truly there, and the only person there was a woman, and she told me to stop going after Chain. I felt like she was my mother, but... I don't know. I dunno what to do."

"That's perfectly normal to have visions like that Jace, especially since I pumped you full of possible toxins and chemicals! You had a near death experience and your conscious was just trying to pull yourself back up so you didn't wake up a raving lunatic. Trust me, it's a therapeutic science!" Doc Hill laughed out a hard, dry laugh.

"Ugh." Victoria said in disgust at it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said, getting up.

I didn't care. I started to think about the vision and the problems that I faced now.

"Well, Doc, thanks for help—"

"No!" Doc Hill yelled at Victoria.

"Don't leave with the hairy man-baby and the butt-chin guy! Stay here!" He begged.

"Let's go, let's go." Victoria rushed as we fled the hospital.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: And What a Return It Was**

My mind was totally set on getting my vault food, now that it's been months since I left home. Soon, I realized something important, and stopped walking.

"What is it? We still have some ground to cover before sunset." Joe said, showing us the distance with his hand.

"I know what to do! I know how to help everybody!" I shouted.

"How?" Victoria asked.

"I'll tell the town tomorrow, just meet me outside the mayor's office." I smiled.

They agreed and we walked a short distance and finally found the town. Blood stains were still all over the dirt, but the bodies were moved away from it. We walked inside the gate and into the town. We walked to the bar for some rest and went inside. The place was packed with people, all laughing or drinking away their memories. Such things were very common in a world where you can die tomorrow and it would be normal. Jab waved to us as he served drinks and went up to us.

"Hey! My favorite smoothskins! Welcome back from the dead! Trust me, it ain't that bad though." Jab said, laughing playfully.

"Hey Jab, you still have our rooms?" I asked.

"Of course, Joe's been paying for them." Jab said.

"Thanks." Victoria said to Jab with a smile.

"Right, no need to thank your best friend for paying for your home while you could have possibly died, no-no." Joe sighed.

"Hey, thanks for all you guys did, I'm getting treated betteraround here now. Any drinks are on me tonight!" Jab exclaimed.

"Thanks Jab, but I'd like to get some sleep." I said politely.

"Well that's too bad for you!" Joe smile as he went up to the counter and pointed to a bottle of whiskey and slammed his fist on the counter.

"Don't do that." Jab told him.

"I'm sorry, I crossed the line." Joe said quickly as Jab poured a shot.

I went upstairs and put my holster and pack on my dresser and sat in my bed. I checked my pistol and put it down, changing my attention to my scarred legs. Victoria then came inside as I moved my hurt leg slowly.

"Hey, I want to say thanks for what you did. I might not be here right now if it wasn't for you, so, thanks." Victoria said with a kind smile.

"No problem. You guys saved my life, I should return the favor." I nodded.

She sat down in my bed and kissed my cheek.

"And thanks for keeping me company." She smiled.

Victoria got up and walked to the doorway and smiled at me. She walked back to her room as I smiled back. Joe then came up the stairs with bottles in his hand and called me to his room with a drunken arm gesture. I walked to his room and peered at him as he gave me a book that was written in pencil. The cover said "Joe's Wasteland Survival Guide."

"I don't believe it." I smiled, looking at it.

"I know. I've been working on it every day since you've been out." Joe smiled.

"No, not that. I just didn't know you could write." I joked. The both of us laughed for a moment.

"Don't you dare judge me, you condescending douchebag." Joe smiled as he tapped his gun against my shoulder.

"Thanks for this, Joe." I smiled.

"No problem, buddy." He smiled as he drank from his bottle.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back downstairs and find some feminine company." Joe winked as he took his bottle downstairs. He then quickly popped his head back up the stairs to see me.

"I'm gonna go and pay for sex, Jace. We—we do that out here." Joe explained quickly afterwards as he left with his whiskey bottle.

I headed to my room and began to read Joe's book. I read as much as I could before I went to sleep, reading up on basic survival methods and creatures of the Wasteland. I closed my eyes and took in all new information about the Wasteland, remembering for some reason to stay away from large buildings.

I woke up from a blissful sleep and went downstairs. I had some Nuka-Cola and noodles with mole rat bits in it. They've never tasted so good! After I ate, I went to the office and saw Joe asleep at Larry's old desk.

"Morning, Joe. Can you gather the townspeop—"

"OH MY GOD, CAN YOU NOT YELL AT ME?!" Joe screamed at me. "Sure thing." He added in.

People eventually gathered around below me, slightly impatient by my summoning. Soon, around 20 people gathered around and waited for what I had to say. Victoria and Joe stood next to me.

"Morning." I told them.

"OH MY _GOD_!" Joe shouted as he covered his ears and walked away.

"I know that things are hard around here after the attack, but I've come up with a compromise that will help this town." I shouted down to them.

"There is a vault, not far from this town. It's filled with people who are in need of food and water. They have adequate weaponry and a security force that can protect this town. If we can give them food, I will see if I can set up a compromise so that they defend the town. I'm going to need your support for this, everyone, what do you say?" I shouted to them.

The people started to talk among themselves until they started to shrug and shake their heads.

"How do you know there are people in there?" Someone asked me.

"Because… I used to live there."

"Ew!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

"Do you guys agree, or not?" I yelled down to them.

The people talked amongst each other. "Sure. A—Are we just supposed to clap in agree-ance, or…"

"Nah, that's fine, dude. Whatever. And don't worry, because of this, everybody can have a chance to live a safe life in Megaton!" I yelled with a smile.

"Alright, cool." A singular townsperson yelled back as the crowd dispersed.

I walked over to Joe and Victoria who were clapping and smiling at me.

"Well I think that went well, what do you guys think?" I asked.

"Couldn't have done it better myself! And I mean that this time." Joe nodded.

"Yeah, nice job!" Victoria exclaimed.

"AH! GUYS! I'm… _hung-over_." Joe pointed to his ears and shut his eyes in pain. I shook my head at him.

"Thanks, so let's get the caravans ready to transport, shall we?"

I turned over to Joe, anticipating him to wince and hold his ears. "Nah, I think I'm over it now." He shrugged as he walked away normally.

The townspeople gathered food from the town and strapped it onto bags. We gathered the irradiated animals in the area, which are called brahmin. It is a four-legged animal with two heads and an "udder". When I first saw it, I wasn't afraid of it, it just seemed normal after seeing the things out here. Around 8 brahmins were gathered and were strapped with bags of food, water and tools. We started transporting them towards the vault. I led them into the tunnel and towards the blast door. I told the caravan to wait out here. I called over Joe and Victoria.

"What do you need?" Victoria asked.

"I have some unfinished business in the vault... and... I'd like you two to be there." I told them.

"Sounds good to me, just be careful, all right? Remember who those people are. They're your friends and family. It doesn't sound like you're planning a party." Victoria expressed nervously.

I walked to the controls for the door and spoke into the intercom.

"It's me, open up." I said into it.

"About time. I mean—what's the password?" A man said with a gruff.

"Open the door, Haywood." I sighed at him.

"Please don't tell the Overseer I'm like this on the job."

The large, circular door made a loud sound as it grinded itself open. The three of us walked in.

"Wait, who are these people?" A security guard asked.

"Get out of my way; we're going to The Overseer's office." I said as I pushed him aside.

"Hey! What about my question?!" He shouted at me.

"Uh, shove it up your ass, and we'll take it from there." I pointed two finger guns at him and clicked my tongue twice. I walked forward into the vault, with the people moving out of our way as they recognized the shaggy haired kid in front of the two outsiders.

We walked through the hallways towards the office and answered the many questions Joe and Victoria had about the people here. We went to the office and I told Joe to wait outside as Victoria and I went in. I saw the overseer sitting at his desk. "Are you sure about this Jace?" Victoria eased me. "I've got it. You're better than Joe, anyway."

I looked at the Overseer as he worked.

"Well it's about time you got back; we've been surviving off scraps here." The Overseer said tiredly as he sat in his desk and wrote on paper.

"He sounds like a douchebag, Jace!" Joe shouted from the other room. I closed the door on him. "Awwww." Joe said continuously until the door shut.

"We're here to talk about a compromise." I said, still holding a grudge against him.

"We're not appointing you for this job to compromise." The Overseer sneered.

"A town outside will continue to feed the vault if you send people over there to help it." I said.

He scoffed. "Who are you to tell me what I should do with the people here? Those dirty rats will get nothing from this vault!" The Overseer snapped back.

"Those 'dirty rats' are normal people just like you and me! They need our help and I'll be damned if I let you kill everybody I know!" I shouted.

"Easy, Jace." Victoria said as she held onto my shoulder.

The door opened Victoria and Joe and Rachel walked in.

"I'm sorry; she said she knew you and that she wanted to see you, Jace." Joe told me.

"It's all right, Joe." I eased him and myself at the same time.

"Jace? People said you returned, so I came here. You look so different, is that a beard? What happened to your jumpsuit?" Rachel asked in rapid-fire.

"Rachel, I'm sorry, but this isn't the best time." I sighed as I held the bridge of my nose in stress.

"Who's this?" Rachel asked as she looked at Victoria, who was still holding my shoulder. Victoria's hand dropped to her side instantly. I guess she knew what was coming next.

"Oooh, shit! They both have a crush on Jace!" Joe called from the outside.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked Rachel.

"Yeah." She closed the door on Joe. "Awwwwww." He said again until it closed on him.

"This is Victoria and that's Joe, they're friends I made outside." I explained.

"Friends?" Rachel asked as she studied Victoria closely. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah. Friends, we're just talking to your father about something." I told her.

"All right, then. I'll... just be outside then." Rachel said as she walked out to Joe. "So he didn't pick you, huh?" Joe asked Rachel as the door closed. She sighed and slapped him in the face right before the metallic doors closed. Victoria and I turned back to The Overseer.

"Look at you, look at how you dress and how you talk, you're just like one of _them_." The Overseer said.

"'One of them'? These people are dying and they need our help, I could have let everyone die in here, but I didn't, you know why? Because its people who-unlike you-actually care about helping and rely on me. It's people like Rachel and my father who want to help people! Not you!" I yelled.

"Your father? Your father was a deadbeat just like you!" He shouted.

I punched The Overseer and he flew over his desk. Victoria grabbed my shoulders and kept me from The Overseer.

"Look at you..." The Overseer panted, feeling his jaw.

"Look at what the outside has done to you! You're an animal and need to be put down like one. This is how you treat people who disagree with you? You just beat them into agreeing with you?" The Overseer yelled.

"I'm glad I sent you out there, you want to know why? I'd rather see _you_ turn into an animal than my own daughter! You don't know what it's like to be a leader… you don't know what it's like to be a father. You're just a _child_." He added.

"I told you that there was going to be change here, and now I'm going to make it happen, and you aren't going to stand in my way." I said in a softer tone.

"I knew this would happen if I let people out, and I knew this would eventually happen to your kind. You and your father. You're tainted. You're ending up just like him." The Overseer spat.

"You father turned on me just after you left. I told him there was no way you were coming back and that he was too late to save you. He yelled at me and he said that I ruined his life. He was going to rally the people to overthrow me. I sent my security to put him to rest, permanently, before this turned into a riot. Of course... everyone thought it was an accident. I know what this seems like, but this is the position I'm in Jace." The Overseer baited me.

We stood in silence for a moment as I glared angrily and emotionally at him. I couldn't face him the information he told me. I didn't know what I was about to do and it scared me. Victoria saw this in my face, and she backed away. My mind went blank after this. Victoria filled me in on what I did. I ran and kicked The Overseer in the head. He fell over and coughed, looking at me with his eyes wide open.

"GET UP!" I commanded with fury and tears.

He got up and I grabbed his shirt and sling-shotted him into the wall and into my fist. I grabbed his fist and broke his arm over the corner of his desk. He fell to the ground, screaming.

"GET-UP!" I screamed.

He moved to a wall and rested his head on it as he caught his breath.

"You couldn't even have the decency to tell people what you did, you piece of _SHIT_!" I punched him side of his head and it smashed into the wall. I screamed hysterically at him. He coughed and sobbed as he grabbed his head.

"Get up!" I shouted.

"Control yourself… I did what I had to do to keep people safe—"

"Well that fixes everything, doesn't it? That makes everything worth it?!" I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to his feet. I began punching him across the face, blood flew from him and onto the walls. I gave him a straight in the nose and he flew into a wall, grabbing at nothing to pull himself up. I grabbed his head and threw him back into the wall. He fell over and I picked him up again. I pulled him by the hair and brought his head into his desk. He bounced off with a crack and fell over, moaning. I grabbed his head and readied my fist at his neck. At that moment, I heard a voice echo in my head.

"You are meant to do a lot, but not everything."

I snapped back into my mind again and looked at him with hate. I wanted him to suffer, but I thought about my actions. I lowered my fist and crouched next to him.

"The only reason I'm letting you live is because your daughter can still scavenge some love for you, and I'm not going to put her through what you're doing to me. If it were up to me, I would kill you right now." I whispered to him.

"Then you… don't have what it takes to be a leader… your blood keeps you from seeing truth." He coughed.

"You… can get people to follow you, sure… but you don't know what it's like to be a leader until you had to do what _I_ did… choose what _I_ did."

"I did choose. And I made a better choice than you."

"You think that because you feel benevolent in its choice… but it's fleeting. A bold-faced lie. These decisions have far-reaching consequences. I know this because I'm not an insolent child. Not a dependent idiot stuck on a pre-meditated job… taking a fake 'test', you're not the legend this vault birthed. Just a puppet strung up by your own hands. The worst part is you don't even realize you're controlling it."

"Not a legend. Not evem... not Amat—Rachel. No… I've ruined that opportunity. There will be another. We will make one better than you."

He was speaking nonsense at the point, I dropped him.

Victoria stared at me as I got up.

"Get Joe to take him to a doctor outside the vault. Let him know what it feels like to be out there, and leave him in Springvale." I said as I walked out of the room. Joe looked at my hands and shook his head.

"Well... I didn't see that coming." He said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes and started to walk next to me.

Victoria told Joe what to do as I walked to a water fountain and rinsed my hands. I punched a wall afterwards in anger and moaned "ow" afterwards. I then sat against the "defeated" wall. Victoria walked up to me and sat next to me.

"I'm sorry about what happened." She told me.

"I am too."

"Thanks for not doing what you did; I'm glad you thought about it at the end." She said.

"The end's what we're all thinking about, now." I sighed.

"Can you blame us?"

I sat there for a moment and breathed in, looking at my hands.

"Why didn't you stop me?" I asked sadly.

"Because I know what it feels like. I wanted to get revenge for what happened to me, but I never had the chance... and he got away."

"What happened to you?"

"I was little... and I grew up in Megaton. My parents and I worked on the piping in the town and were teaching me what to do. I was little, and I didn't know much about the town. The sheriff at the time was a shady man and worked with Larry, who was the deputy at the time. I heard one morning the two argued, and the sheriff stormed out of town. The next day, he came back with raiders, armed to the teeth with weapons. They slaughtered almost everyone there in what seemed like an instant. I heard the noise coming from outside, so my parents moved me to a small bunker with other people. That's where I met Joe; he was also down there with me. My parents dropped me there with other kids and locked the cellar doors. We never saw our parents again. From that day forth, the sheriff was known as Chain because he used a chainsaw to finish off the wounded." She said as tear rolling down here face. I wiped it from her face and looked down.

"What did he do to you?" She asked me afterwards.

"My mother's dead because of him, and he's the reason I was stuck in this place for my childhood." I answered.

"He's got a thing for ruining children's lives." I added.

"Seems like this vault did that more than Chain." She told me.

"Yeah… I'm sorry about what happened to you, Victoria." I said.

"You too, Jace." She said quietly.

I got up and pulled her up to her feet. We walked down the hall towards the morgue to pay my father his respect. As we walked, Chip walked up to me angrily with a bunch of men behind him in leather jackets.

"Hey, Marston!" Chip shouted.

I made it obvious it wasn't the time for this. I dreamily grabbed at my pistol in its holster. Chip noticed what I was doing and they fled. I sighed and dropped my hand from the holster, knowing that I wasn't going to use it anyway. We soon entered the morgue with my heart heavy. It was cold and had many shelves with names on them, they covered the room. I walked down and found my father's name on a sticker. I pulled the sticker off and opened the shelf and saw the body covered by a cloth. I sighed hard and Victoria put her arm around me. Red-eyed and choking up, I picked up his body and began to walk.

"Do you need help?" Victoria asked.

"No… I want to do this alone." I said quietly.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes. Just go back and help Joe out or something." I said as I walked away.

"Alright. Sure." She nodded in agreement as she backed away.

"Find someone to replace The Overseer. And find someone worthy." I said as I walked out of the room with my father in my arms. I kept waking, ignoring the people who knew me and stared in surprise at me. "He's back." Were the whispers. "What happened to him?" "Oh God, he's dirty." "That's blood."

The caravan looked impatient, but their faces changed when they saw me walking. They took it as the sign to pull in the food to the vault. I took a spade from one of the brahmin's bags and walked out of the tunnel. I rested my father's body on the ground and started to dig next to him. The sun was setting when I started, but I didn't care. I dug until it was dark and the grave was complete. I then rested my father's body in the grave, looking down at him with tears in my eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you fast enough, dad. I'm...I'm sorry. I should have stayed. I'm not ready to be out here. I need you." I said as I sobbed down at him.

I started to fill in the grave with the dirt, crying and weeping as I pulled dirt onto him. When I was done, I put the spade in my belt loop and looked around. I picked up an old sign that said "Scenic Overlook" and placed it above my father's grave. I put my father's sticker on it. I walked back into the vault, ignoring everyone with an angry or judgmental stare. I pulled out my bottle of "painkillers" and took them, hoping to either fall asleep easily, or develop an addiction to something more exciting and blissful than my life. I went to bed in my old room, hating every second of being there. I couldn't sleep that night there… until the roofies kicked in.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Even A Little Change**

I woke up the next morning and went into The Overseer's office. Joe and Victoria were standing around the room. Rachel sat in the desk, adjusting papers.

"They told me what happened. I'm sorry, Jace. I didn't know he slipped that far into madness." Rachel told me.

"Sure." I said anti-socially.

"Don't worry, I won't be like him, I promise." She shook her head.

"Yeah." I nodded, sitting down in a chair. Rachel winced as my dirty clothes touched it.

"It's time, make the call." Joe said to her. Rachel put her finger on the intercom and moved her face into it.

"Attention citizens of Vault 101. After realization of the past Overseer's—my father's- corruption, I have been appointed new Overseer of this vault. Things are to change, I promise you. After intelligence from the outside, it has been deemed safe to leave this vault, but leave with great caution. As a compromise for our food from the outside, our security and work forces will go and work at the outside town called 'Megaton'. Times are changing, and this time, good things will follow. I promise I'll keep this legacy safe, no matter what we face." Rachel took her finger off the intercom.

"Thank you, Jace. For everything that you've done." Rachel nodded.

"You're welcome..." I mumbled.

"You're going to stay here, right?" Rachel asked me.

I looked up and stared at her. Joe and Victoria were on my left, Rachel on my right. My eyes groggily looked at them for my answer.

"I think I have to go." I said in almost a whisper.

Rachel inhaled and swallowed.

"You guys are welcome here anytime. I'll see you later, Jace." Rachel told us as I Joe and Victoria walked up to me. Joe patted me understandably on my back and walked out of the office.

"She's a keeper." Rachel smiled at me. I smiled slightly and walked out.

The three of us left the vault and walked to Megaton in the heat of the morning.

"So you took care of him?" I asked Joe.

"Yep, he didn't like it too much, though." Joe answered.

"Good." I said, happy in the Overseer's downfall.

We continued into town and told the guard covering the gate that the security forces will be arriving shortly. We all went into the mayor's office to decide what to do next. The room was empty. Joe immediately ran to the safe. "I totally forgot!"

He stuck his tongue out as he listened to the safe with this right ear, pressing his face against it. He spun the knob and continued listening to it closely. Victoria and I looked at each other and then back to Joe. A quick "aha!" soon followed as he backed away. He moved back away from the safe, took out his gun and shot the lock. It fell off and the door opened slowly.

"God, I'm so good." He said as he pulled it open.

"Yeah Joe, you're a true master of the art. A real asset to us." Victoria rolled her eyes as we walked towards the safe.

The safe was stocked with money. Packs of money poured out as we stifled threw it. Joe started laughing maniacally as he took it out.

"Stop being an idiot, Joe. We need the money for the town." Victoria explained.

"I'm just taking what the mayor/sheriff/thing owed us. Here's mine, Jace that's for you, and by the way you're acting Vee, I don't think you deserve your cut." Joe said. She elbowed him and took the money.

"That's the greatest thing I missed about you, Vee." Joe said sarcastically, coughing as he felt his ribs.

We took our money and put it into our packs. We then stood up and went to the desk, taking seats on it and on the two chairs around the room.

"So, now we took care of that, we need to take care of what we came here for." I reminded them.

"And what's that? This is what _I_ came here for." Joe said as he flaunted the money around and made it rain.

"We need a new mayor and law system." I told them.

"And why's that? A mayor-slash-sheriff-when-the-need-arises worked so well, didn't it?" Joe said sarcastically.

"Stop being a wise ass, Joe. We need to do things differently or at least improve things if this town's going to stay on its feet."

"So what are we going to do?" Victoria asked.

"The way I see it, we have a mayor, sheriff, and deputy in this room. We just need to assign them to the right places." Joe said as he put his feet up on Larry's old desk.

"I don't think the townspeople would like us deciding it." Victoria put forth.

"They already like Jace, and plus, we've played a big part in helping the town as he did." Joe smiled.

"For once, Joe's right. The people like us and they've already seen us fight, so why not?" I said.

"Alright, then." Victoria shrugged.

"I want to be mayor!" Joe raised his hand.

"Yeah, let the immature man-child run a town." Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Wow… and they called me 'Low-Blow Joe'." Joe said, holding his chest like he was just shot there.

"…"

"It's because I used to kick people in the balls." He said after a pause in the room.

"Yeah, I remember." Victoria nodded.

After hours of discussion, and constant interruptions of Joe's "mayor" voice, we all made a decision. That night, we announced it the townspeople. They all agreed and clapped at the progress our town made. We then all went to the armory to equip ourselves. Joe grabbed a sheriff's badge and I grabbed a deputy's badge. We both replaced our weapons, throwing them to the side. Joe took an assault rifle and I took a .44 magnum revolver and bullets. I reloaded the cylinder and put it in my holster. I put the bullets into my pack.

"Well, someone's been reading!" Joe said, impressed by me.

"Yep, how's your weapon?" I asked.

"Fits me like a glove! That reminds me..." Joe walked up to a closet and opened it up. Cowboy hats and dusters filled it. Joe put a brown cowboy hat on over his red bandana.

"Fits me like a glove, too." He mumbled with a smile.

I took a black cowboy hat and put it on.

"C'mon, you gotta admit, I look sexy." Joe said, outstretching his arms.

"Shut up, Joe." I laughed.

"I'm not a hat guy." I muttered as I placed my hat back.

"So, what are you going to do as mayor, Vee?" Joe asked Victoria.

"I don't know, but this town's going to go through some rough-ass puberty, I know that." Victoria answered.

"He-heh, gross." Joe smiled.

We walked out of the armory and to the bar. The people inside clapped as we walked in, raising their drinks to us. We all walked to our rooms with smiles on our faces, and drinks in one of our hands. I put my things onto my dresser and started reading Joe's book. Victoria then walked in, and I put my book down.

"Hello, Mayor. What brings you here?" I asked. She smiled and sat down.

"I've come to see my people so they can bask in my glory!" She laughed.

"Wow, already a fascist, huh? So, are you ready for this kind of stuff? Seems like a big change from patrolling the city." I asked.

"I can handle it, besides, not like I'm going to do worse than a mayor and sheriff combination." She said.

"And what about you? Can you handle being a deputy?" She asked.

"I don't know, time will tell, I guess." I said. We sat there for a moment.

"You know, you are the only person that I told about what happened to me, you, and Joe of course. Most of the people here haven't been around the town that long. Except that girl Maya." She said.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. Joe and I will work to find where he's hiding."

"Thanks, Jace. I know you don't really think that you're doing a lot but… you are. Seriously." She smiled.

"We're not done yet, I won't let a battle like that happen ever again. What happened to you, it's just... I don't want it to happen again." I said, looking down.

"Thanks for caring about me, Jace." Victoria smiled as she sat down next to me.

She leaned in close to me and we stared at each other for a moment, and slowly kissed. We sat there for a moment, kissing, and the door opened, it was Joe.

"Oh, Jee-... I-I'm sorry, I-I'll just.. just... um, oh God, I'm not drunk enough for this shit." He awkwardly closed the door and fast walked to his room. We looked down at the floor and smiled.

"Well, goodnight, Jace." Victoria said. She got up and went to her room. I continued to read Joe's book until I got tired and went to sleep.

That night, Rachel adjusted herself to her new office in Vault 101. She logged into the computer and read through files to see where her father's work left off. Lazily, she fell asleep on the computer, scooting it back and knocking it off the desk. Below it was a weird device; a finger scanner. Curious about the hidden tech, she touched it. A screen popped up in place of her computer with the words " ." at the top. She looked at it as code scrolled through, ending with the words, "Welcome, Amata Almodavar!" She stared quizzically at it.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Only For a Night**

We immediately got busy with our new responsibilities. We were pulled into the boring life of politics and pulling off two drunken fighters. Months have passed at this point, and nothing was different, except Victoria and I. Things have gotten better between us, and even if Joe didn't approve deep down inside, we were still friends. In fact, Victoria and I were much more than friends. Gossip ran about the town about the mayor's boyfriend while I just sat there in the small fame of the title. All-in-all, Megaton wasn't a crater after the months, and that was good enough.

"Jace…" Joe moaned on my couch in my new house.

"What?" I asked him.

"I'm bored…" He sighed.

"Then go and murder someone so I can arrest you. Again."

"When did you arrest him?" Vee asked as she sat next to me, her head on my shoulder.

"Ew. Stop doing that—that—_love_ shit." Joe gagged.

"Do you want me to rest my head on _your_ shoulder?" Victoria asked as she turned over on the couch and put her head on Joe's shoulder. Joe's waist arched up for a moment as he farted. Victoria jumped away and screamed. "God, you're a dick!" Victoria yelled with a smile. Joe and I laughed.

"I'm sorry; I just… never felt love before. They're nervous farts. Honestly." Joe said sarcastically with a warm smile and his arms stretched out for a hug. Victoria switched back to me and kicked him playfully in the face.

"What are we doing?" This is what _fun_ is, now?" Joe asked us.

"I'm having fun." I shrugged.

"Me too." Victoria agreed.

"When last did we get drunk and did something stupid?" Joe asked us.

"I remember the last time you did, and it got you arrested." I told him.

"Seriously Joe, did you kill a guy?" Vee asked.

"He was pretty much dead, anyways-I have an idea!" Joe smiled as he jumped up and held his finger in the air.

"I'm not killing people for excitement. That was kind of what I thought you guys did for fun out here when I first met you." I expressed.

"No, ass-shit, shut up! The saloon's celebrating their new ownership, so they're having a contest that rewards us free booze!"

"No." Vee told him.

"This sounds like the first five minutes of a shitty radio sitcom." She added.

"It kinda does." I agreed.

"Stop… agreeing with each other, dammit! Stop liking each other!" Joe said in disgust.

"I hate you." I said to Vee with a smile.

"I hate you too." She smiled back at me.

"I hate you so much I wanna kill you." I laughed as we kissed.

"Maybe if we get you drunk, that'll happen."

"Oooh, sounds like a Friday night for Joe."

"Goddammit, let's go and get fuckin schwasted!" Joe shouted as he pulled Vee off of me and ran us to the saloon in the middle of the night. It was the only building lit up. Dozens of people were stockpiled outside, drinking and running around in a drunken stupor. Joe burst the door open, waving his gun around.

"Alright people!" He yelled in his commanding voice, quieting the bar as the seedier people fled.

"Who's winning this event?" He asked them in his powerful voice.

The Irish owner pointed to a woman with two shot glasses tied into her brown hair. Joe pointed to her, and she stared back at him.

"Ma'am…" Joe said in a grim and authorizing voice.

"…" The woman sat in silence along with the rest of the bar.

He pointed at her face, "We're gonna kick your _ass_ tonight."

The bar cheered and roared as people played instruments and danced and sang. Vee held my hand as we walked up to the owner and smiled at Jab as he still kept his job. "So what's the name of the game?" I asked him.

"We've got a bushel of games, you see. Complete the most games to get more points and you'll win some beer and a special prize. Would you like to enter?" The owner asked.

Joe pounded his fist on the table. "Sign me up, baby!" Joe smiled at the woman as she smiled back, and drank her two shots.

"Us, too!" I nodded, raising my hand in the air. Vee cheered as the owner brought out drinks.

"Name's Colin. And the challenge for all who accept it is to take a shot of my little concoction; Nuka Spazz, I call it." He pointed to the three shots of a bright green liquid.

"Come on, not scared, are you, sheriff?" The winner teased Joe.

"I will take from you everything!" Joe yelled a battle cry as he took back the shot. He made a sharp face and swallowed hard. "I'm gonna see this in my pee." He told himself.

"Trust me, dude. You will." The woman patted him on the back.

"You ready?" I asked Vee as we lifted up our shot glasses, and intertwined our arms.

"Let's do it." She smiled as we drank it.

I slapped my hand on the table. "Holy shit, that tastes like acid and sugar!" I coughed.

"Aye." Colin nodded.

The woman took the shot and smiled afterwards and laughed in Joe's face.

"What's next, Colin?!" Joe asked angrily.

"One dart throw. Most points win!" Colin smiled as he showed us the dart board.

"Pfft. Easy." The woman scoffed.

"With _these_ on." Colin smiled as he handed her beer goggles.

"But I'm already drunk." The woman told him.

"Aye." Colin replied.

The woman shrugged and put the goggles on, holding the darts in her hand. The three of us stood up as the bar cleared away and watched us compete. The woman stuck her tongue out and aimed at the board as Joe walked up behind her and danced around. "Am I distracting you? Am I distracting you?" He asked as she smiled and laughed. She threw a dart; bull's-eye.

"Are you shitting me?" Joe asked in awe.

"In your perverted dreams, dude." The woman smiled as she handed him the goggles and slapped him on the ass, sending off for the big game.

Joe put the goggles on and aimed the dart carefully. "Hold on…" Joe said as he lowered his throwing arm for a moment.

"Jab!" Joe called to him.

"Get me a whiskey!"

The crowd cheered as Joe took a shot and aimed the dart again. We laughed at him as he threw, lifting up his back leg like a little girl throwing a basketball. He missed completely.

We laughed even harder at this as Joe lifted up his goggles and cursed at the board. Next up was me. Vee gave me an encouraging back rub as I aimed. "Come on, babe. You got this. Channel your inner marksman."

I threw the dart, and like magic, it hit the bull's eye. I, along with the crowd, cheered. Vee took the goggles and tossed her dart carelessly. It hit the two points.

"Better than Joe!" I called, making the crowd cheer.

"Dammit." Joe muttered as he took another shot of whiskey.

"Next event!" Colin called.

"Let's do it!" Joe nodded as he took yet another shot.

"He's so gonna lose." I smiled as I whispered to Vee.

"Let him have his fun." She whispered back.

"Five-finger fillet!" Colin called out as he lifted up a sharp kitchen knife.

"Ooooh!" The crowd called.

"If I wasn't so drunk, I'd apprehend you for possessing a lethal weapon in a closed quarters situation." Joe slurred as he lifted up his assault rifle with one hand.

"But like I said… I'm drunk." He nodded as the woman patted his back like a baby and laughed.

"Tequila, Jab!" Joe shouted as he got another shot.

"Okay… okay, just don't yell." Jab replied.

"Who wants to go first?" I asked the group.

Joe swallowed his tequila quickly and raised his hand. "I'm first!"

"Did you time that? Fifteen minutes and drunk." I muttered to Vee. She gave a respectful clap. I laughed.

Joe plopped down at a cleared table and we sat around him. He stared daggers into the woman as she stared back with a smile. He lifted up the shining knife and slammed it down into the table. He tried to lift it up, but he couldn't lift it.

"It's stuck." He said slowly as he continued to stare into the woman's eyes.

"Uh… Joe…." Vee said calmly as we all stared at the tip of the knife directly stabbed into Joe's hand.

"I want to think that the knife didn't hit my hand, but… it really… hurts… a lot." Joe said slowly, still staring at the woman.

"Joe… you're disqualified." Colin said sadly to a quiet room.

"That's… more than fair." Joe nodded as he took the knife out of his hand and placed it on the table.

"Uh, l-light beer, Jab. Please." Joe said quietly.

"Let's just move onto the next game!" Colin excited the crowd.

"I think that's it for me. I'll go and make sure Joe doesn't accidentally shoot that gun." Vee told me as she walked over to Joe.

"Kick her face in, buddy!" Joe yelled to me as he lifted his glass to me, spraying random bar guests with blood from the hole in his hand.

"Put your hand down, put your hand down!" Vee yelled at him as she wrapped it up with a cloth.

"Let's just do a final event, since it's three in the morning, shall we?" Colin asked. The crowd agreed with wide awake cheers.

"Follow me outside, folks! Bring your drinks!" Colin exclaimed as Vee led Joe and the woman outside as I followed.

Colin pointed to two parallel water pipes exiting from the stars below us and traveling throughout the town, the two both following each other.

"The winner of these games will be the one who follows these pipes to Moira's the fastest!" Colin explained.

The woman scoffed at the sight and folded her arms.

"You cocky… hot, woman… bitch!" Joe shook his fist at her. She laughed and covered her mouth with her hand.

"You got this, Jace!" Victoria cheered for me as the woman and I hopped over the guard rails and landed on the pipes.

"This is really unsafe. We should call the sheriff or something." I said as we looked down the two story drop.

"Good idea." The woman nodded. "Sheriff!" She called to Joe.

"Stop flirting with me!" Joe yelled back. She laughed again.

"JAB! RUM AND COKE!" Joe called.

"Stop yelling at me!" Jab called back sadly.

"Begin!" Colin shouted as the woman and I clung to the pipes and slugged across them.

Rusted and still being used, we inched across the water pipes as the crowd cheered for us. I tried my best not to look down, but it was just too tempting. We were higher than I thought, and only halfway there at that point. "Come on, Jace!" Vee called to me.

"Shut up! This is scarier than I anticipated!" I yelled back.

"What happened to those balls I saw earlier?!" She called back.

There was a pause in the night.

"Ew!" Joe's voice echoed in the distance.

"Ah, fuck it." I told myself as I stood up on the pipe and balanced myself on it, walking forward to my victory. The woman carefully inched to the end, where the crowd ran around us.

"FREE BEER! HE WON THE _FUCKING_ FREE BEER!" Joe screamed as he ran to me and lifted me up, spinning me around until he got dizzy.

Vee ran up and hugged me. I laughed and sighed out in relief as the woman patted me on the back. I held Vee with one arm, and lifted up my other arm, raising a finger.

"To the bar! FREE DRINKS for everyone!" I shouted to the cheering hoards of drunk people.

"YES!" Joe shouted.

Joe inhaled as mucgh as he could as he cupped his hands around his mouth and directed his head back across town to the bar. "JAAAAAAAB!" Joe shouted across Megaton.

"WHAAAAT?!" Jab called back from the saloon.

"FLAMING TEQUILA SHOTS!"

"Why are you treating me like this?! I thought we were friends!" Jab shouted in sadness.

We moved back to the bar as Colin stood behind the counter. "Your prize is back here, boyo." Colin told me as he led me to the back room. I walked into the room, where Joe was sitting with a box.

"You owe me." Colin told Joe.

"I know." Joe nodded.

"What's up?" I asked, confused by how sober Joe sounded.

"Take this, buddy." Joe told me as he handed me a wooden box. I opened it to see a ring with a diamond at the end of it. I stared in confusion as it was surrounded in a blue cushion, like it was important.

"What is this?" I asked as I lifted it up.

"Alright listen, that's called a wedding ring. Vee just had one of the best nights of her life here, with you. I want you to give that to Victoria and ask her to marry you. And she'll say yes and you guys will guarantee to spend the rest of your lives reading my book and farting alone or whatever the fuck you two do I have no idea." Joe said in a serious tone.

"How'd you get sober so quickly?" I asked him.

"Oh, geez." Colin sighed as he left the room.

"I staged the whole event so I can give you guys a fun night with each other, so giving her that ring will mean more to her."

"I thought you were grossed out by us." I asked him.

Joe sighed and exhaled all the sarcasm that he had built up.

"If there's any guy in this world that'll take care of Vee more than me, it's you, Jace. She knows that, too. So do me a favor and stop acting like a dipshit and marry that girl, okay?" He asked me with a smile.

"So I climbed on that pipe… why?"

"Oh my God, I'm going to get arrested again tonight if you don't leave this room and do it now, Jace."

"Are sure you aren't a little drunk?" I asked him.

"That girl out there gave me something."

I nodded and turned away.

"And Jace—"

"Yeah?" I asked Joe.

"Go on one knee when you ask her."

"Argh, but my knee's been hurting lately." I complained.

"You're testing my fucking patience." He nodded.

I gave Joe the box back and held the ring in my hand as people continued to play music and talk and shout and fight. "Excuse me, guys! Can I have your attention?" I called to the crowd. They did not respond.

A gunshot rang out as Joe held his assault rifle.

"Oh shit, I forgot the safety was off!" Joe yelled as he looked to see that he shot the 2nd place winner of the bar "games".

"Oh no, I shot the hot girl!" Joe yelled as he ran over to her leg wound and held it.

"Ow…" She moaned to him.

"I'm really sorry." Joe told her.

"Its fine. You can make it up to me by taking me out."

"Uh… fuck yeah! What's your name?" Joe asked her in his victory.

"Natalie."

"I'm Joe. And seriously, we need to get you to a doctor, that thing is bleeding _everywhere_."

I stared at the exchange with my mouth open. "Alright, then… now that I have your attention. I'd like to make an announcement." I called to the people of the room.

I turned to Veronica as she stood there and waited for my announcement. "Veronica. In the company of my best friend who's making out with a bleeding girl and most of the town…" I gripped the ring in my hand and bent down to one knee. "Will you marry me?"

"Wow, you're proposing to me at three in the morning in a bar, half-drunk?" Veronica asked me.

"Shut up and say 'yes', you shit." I smiled at her.

"Where does this cockiness come from?" She smiled at me.

"Who knows."

"_Yes_, you dick." She laughed as I got up and kissed her. The crowd cheered as Joe gave a thumbs up in our general direction, not turning away from his make-out session with Natalie.

"Now what, Joe?" I called to him as he sucked on Natalie's face.

"Uh… I dunno. Go away, live life, you're married now, okay? Jus—just go away, Jace!" Joe yelled as he swatted us away.

"I can't believe this guy wrote a book." Vee told me as we walked out of the bar.

"I still can't believe this guy writes." I responded as I held her hand.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Newlyweds **

The townspeople congratulated their mayor for the next weeks. Joe didn't seem like he had time to see us, since he was with his new "lady friend", Natalie. For the next couple months, the three of us have gotten busy with renovating the town, even if we all couldn't see each other do it. Bunkhouses for people to sleep in were built for people who can't afford Moriarty's rooms. Victoria hired people to scavenge food for the vault and the town. Before we knew it, the town was thriving with newcomers from other towns. Any raider who got close to the town was swiftly executed by our new and improved guards, who have been trained by Joe and I. Weapons have been shipped to Megaton so the townspeople and guards can feel safer. Sniper rifles have been shipped in for our new watch tower, along with more automatic rifles for the outside guards and patrols. Things were looking better out here, for us, and the town, and better yet, me. Victoria and I have been together for a long time, and our relationship was unbreakable by anything and anyone. Joe has gotten used to our relationship over time, we figured this out by the jokes he made towards us while we worked. Victoria started living with me as soon as our new house was built and we moved out of our old one. For once, things out here were finally looking up, and it was about to get better.

I was trimming my hair and beard in my bathroom one day when Victoria walked in with Joe.

"Jace, it's us, come downstairs!" Victoria shouted.

I walked downstairs and saw Joe and Victoria sitting at the dining table.

"Come here, I've got to tell you both something." She said, sitting down.

I walked to the table where Victoria left water and some cups. I sat down and Joe grabbed a cup and started to drink, inspecting it as he drank it.

"Eh, I'd rather have some booze. Drinking this is just-"

"I'm pregnant." Victoria interrupted. Joe choked on his water and spat it up onto the floor.

"Christ, Jace! I didn't even know you knew how to do that!" Joe exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" I asked, ignoring Joe's outburst.

"The mothers around here told me after I told them about my symptoms; they say I'm most likely pregnant." She said.

"That's great!" I laughed.

"Call me uncle Joe!" Joe yelled. We laughed.

"So, you're happy?" Victoria asked. I forgot to smile at her, so I did.

"Happy? I'm ecstatic! I'm… gonna be a father! What about you?" I asked.

"I'm just as happy as you are about it, but it's just that... I don't know if I'm actually pregnant. Is there any way to find out?" Victoria asked.

"The vault has pregnancy and gender tests, we could go there." I guessed.

"Alright, we could do that." She nodded. I got up and hugged her. I then smiled as much as I could and we kissed.

We packed up our things and headed for the vault. We've memorized the path to the vault and could go there with our eyes closed now, as Joe and I were the lead caravan drivers for the trading missions. The trip there seemed fast, before we knew it, we were already there. We went to Rachel's office to ask her where they were. She was working fast at her desk, with papers and technologies scattered all around her.

"Hey guys, what do you need?" Rachel asked.

"Hey there, Rachel..." Joe said as he inched closer to her.

"Joe, if I told you once, I've told you a million times already, I'm not going out with you, get that through your head." Rachel said. Joe sighed.

"That's fine, Rachel..." Joe said. "Bitch…" He whispered in the same optimistic voice he used in the beginning.

"He's got a pretty deep relationship with this girl already." Vee told her.

"How gentlemanly of him." Rachel smiled slightly.

"Yeah, they also like to break up every second month."

"Wow, a good round number, so what is it you guys would like?" Rachel asked.

"We need some pregnancy and baby gender tests." I smiled.

"Sure, we have a bunch of those, who's it for? If you don't mind me asking." Rachel questioned.

"It's for Victoria; we want to know if she's pregnant." I said.

"Oh, okay. They're in the doctor's office." She smiled.

"Thanks, Rachel." I nodded.

The three of us walked out towards the office. I thought I heard a sigh on the way out of the office, but I wasn't too sure. We went inside the office and saw a robot inside with several metal arms with medical tools on it, sticking out of its circular body. It floated in the air by a small jet coming from below it. I looked at it, confused. Joe raised an eyebrow at it.

"What are you?" I asked.

"Mr. Handy model number 10b-1187a 'Andy'." The robot said in a posh tone.

"Your name's Andy, huh? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I have been issued here to perform medical treatment on subjects, sir." Andy said.

"So, you replaced my father, is that it? Great. Do you have any pregnancy and gender tests around here?" I asked.

"Of course, sir. The containment unit behind me holds several." Andy explained.

"Thanks." I said, with an ungrateful tone.

"I—I don't think I like robots, Jace." Joe whispered to me as he stared at the floating machine.

I walked to the closet behind Andy and opened it. I found the tests and took one of each. I gave it to Victoria.

"It has the instructions on it. Good luck." I said.

"I don't need luck. This isn't a speech I'm making in the bathroom, Jace."

"The amount of time you spend in there…" Joe mumbled.

Victoria read the instructions and elbowed Joe at the same time as she walked away. We waited in Rachel's office for Victoria to come by with the news. She walked inside the door. Rachel, Joe and I looked at her with our eyes wide open.

"I'm having a girl!" She screamed.

We jumped up and cheered.

"Congratulations!" Rachel smiled.

"Thanks! So, what are we going to name it?" Victoria asked.

"Svetlana, the only woman who scored a 9 on the sexy-scale." Joe said.

"No." We all said at once.

"How about Xanex?" Rachel suggested as she typed quickly into her terminal with a pencil tied into her loosely made bun.

"Uh… no." Vee denied.

"Dammit this kid's gonna be born before we can name it." I sighed.

Joe looked at the floor and bit his lip. "What about Sarah?"

"Hold on, was that a serious suggestion?" I asked, surprised and sarcastic.

"I can be serious sometimes." Joe folded his arms.

"I like it, what about you guys?" I asked them.

"I like it!" Victoria said.

"I guess it's better than Xanex."

"Hold on. Svetlana." Joe snapped.

We ignored Joe, and Victoria and I hugged and kissed.

"I just hope she'll be safe with Chain still around." Victoria muttered.

My smile went into a frown quickly. "We'll hire more guards and doctors, then. Easy fix, Vee." Joe said, putting his arms back.

"Yeah…" I said, trying my best to fake the fear I felt.

"I hope it will be..." Victoria said, looking around.

"I promise it will be. Okay?" I lied to her, and I knew it at that very instant.

We said our goodbyes to Rachel and started to walk out, but Rachel told me to stay. I waited inside while Joe and Victoria kept walking.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.

"Jace, I have a question." Rachel said.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"You know we have room in the vault, why don't you live back here, in your home? I mean, do you really want a kid to grow up out there?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment and turned my body fully to her.

"I've spent a long time out here, and met so many people, been through so many things and from what I went through here, I can't have a baby grow up in here. There's just too many things… weird here. You know?" I asked as Joe and Victoria were talking excitedly on the baby outside.

"Have you met Svetlana?! We can't even find any bras that fit her!" Joe yelled outside.

Rachel nodded. "Yeah… I know. Well, alright. If you change your mind, there's always room for you here." Rachel said with a smile.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, can I have some of the books our parents used to read to us when we were little? I want to give it to Victoria as a present." I whispered.

"Sure thing, Jace." Rachel showed me her white teeth. She gathered the books from the nursery and gave them to me. I put them in my pack with a smile.

"Thanks, Rachel, you're the best!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Good luck." She smiled and waved to me.

The door to her office closed as Rachel slumped in her seat and scratched her forehead. She lifted up some papers and documents related to birth and read through them, entering the information into the terminal under 'Project Legacy'. She quickly got up and lifted a black marker and began to write on the window overlooking the atrium. She wrote down computed codes and arrows with intersecting lines along with random names that even she didn't know. These names cross-connected to others while some had check marks, some didn't. She backed away and sighed, dropping the marker and erasing all of her work sloppily, leaving black smears along the window. She picked the marker back up and began to write down the lines and codes again, glancing back at the birth records and recording specific parts of them. She slept in her office that night.

Joe held up to his words and hired more guards with the extra money his book is earning. "Joe's Guide to Wasteland Knowledge" has sold a lot of copies and is popular with many people who plan on leaving the vault, as well as many people from other cities who just want to learn about how to survive outside the confines of a city. A school has been made, and a great homework tool is Joe's book. We've also installed a training area for the new guards, made the doctor's office bigger, and made a farm to grow crops from the seeds that we have purchased from cities further away from the city. Megaton has grown four times as larger than it was before, and the number of people coming into the city has increased exponentially. The three of us have made the city thrive, and have become local celebrities in the process. When the renovation spree calmed down, we sat back and continued with our normal businesses. I wish I could fill in the next few months with something more exciting, but that's a pregnancy for you. It's just morning sickness and catching up on sleep.

One morning, I was off of work, letting the new trainee's run for the day. I walked to the office, and saw Joe talking to his new protégé, a young boy named Michael, who was the top scoring trainee in town. He had a blonde crew cut, and always wore his blue guard armor.

"Nah, just use regular 5.56, hollow points are way too expensive to make, and besides we haven't seen a problem in a while, so no need for the overkill." Joe told him.

"Alright. They just look so cool." Michael smiled.

"It doesn't matter about how good you look, because I already beat you in that department." Joe joked, and the two laughed.

"You're right, Joe. You're the best. I love y—"

"Hey, Joe." I nodded.

"What's up, buddy?" Joe asked me as Michael backed away for a moment and quickly cleaned his gun. He stared at me as Joe patted my back.

"Have you seen Victoria? I wanted to give her a present." I said, holding my bag where the books were.

"I think she's out in the garden." Michael informed me.

"All the way out there?" I asked hectically. "I always tell her not to make that trip when she's like this. The baby could come at any moment, and I don't want her to be all the way outside the city-"

"Take it easy Jace. Just go and see her, I'm sure she'll be happy to get those books." Joe said with a smile, slapping my shoulder. Michael winced loudly as he looked at us. We both looked at him.

"Uh… finger got caught." He said as he looked at his gun.

"Yeah... yeah I'll just go see her, then." I said, walking out of the room and waking outside.

"Since when did you become such a baby?" Joe asked his protégé.

"I dunno Joe. I'm trying, I'm gonna get better, trust me, sir—Joe, sir."

"Sure…" Joe looked at him and walked away.

I quickly walked outside, holding the books behind my back and smiling as I walked out into the farm, almost jogging out there in happiness. As I walked up the hill that overlooked the farm, I looked down at her as she talked to a group of men that didn't look like they were living here. I squinted down at them as she pushed them away and pumped her gauntlet. My eyes shot up and I ran down the hill, putting my books away. I heard shouting.

"VICTORIA!" I shouted as I ran towards my wife.

Victoria punched one of them in the stomach, sending them back. Another woman with short, fire orange hair then took her and held her in a headlock, aiming her pistol at me as I tried to reach for my pistol. I held my arms up and looked at Victoria as I stared helplessly at her.

"Don't move another muscle, hubby!" The woman commanded as the man to her side pulled out something from his pocket.

"Let her go, now!" I commanded.

"Screw you, Deputy Dumbass! Have fun with the baby! Oh wait..." The woman then broke out into a snicker as she dragged Victoria away.

"She's pregnant, stop!" I screamed as I ran into the farm to get them.

"No shit, didn't you laugh at my joke?!" The girl asked.

The man then pulled out a Molotov and threw it into the farm in front of me, sending up a huge flame, and engulfing the garden in a great fire, forcing me to retreat. I moved back and tried to see through the smoke, but it was no use. Finally, the flame died down, and the raiders were nowhere to be found. I looked around, practically spinning in circles as I tried to find them. I then ran as fast as I could into the city, and slammed the door open to Joe's office.

"So you like animals?" Joe asked Natalie as she sat on his lap.

"Joe." I said frantically, running my fingers through my hair.

"We'll take this up later." Joe said as she walked out.

"Wow, she's totally a nine on the sexy-scale." Joe smiled as he turned his eyes to me, and frowned.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked, calling Michael in the room.

"What is it, buddy?" Michael asked Joe.

"Don't call me that." Joe said quickly.

Michael's eyes seemed betrayed by the words. "Bu—"

"They have Victoria." I said, tearing up my words, and pacing around the room.

"Who?" He asked.

"Raiders. They took her and burned down the farm. I don't know where they went; we have to hurry up before..." I breathed in.

"Relax, Michael's a good tracker, he can lead the troops into their hideout." Joe said as he took a hunting rifle from a gun rack.

"No._ No_—"

"Calm down, Jace. It's okay." Joe told me.

"They'll kill her if they see us. Don—Don't bring the troops."

"We have to be quiet on this." Michael said.

"He's right. Are you sure you can find them?" Joe asked Michael.

"If they have feet, I can track them." He nodded.

"They have feet right?" Joe asked me. I glared at him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked.

"Easy, dude. Lay off." Michael told me as he stepped in front of Joe and held onto his shoulder. "Nooope." Joe said quietly as he brushed Michael's hand from his shoulder.

"Get your weapons and let's get moving." I said, pulling out my magnum and popping out the cylinder and checking my ammunition amount.

Michael and Joe took out ammunition and weapons and put it in their holsters. We then quickly moved outside, telling all the citizens who spotted smoke to remain calm as we handle the situation. I led the two outside and up the hill to the farm. Joe sighed and turned away from the blackened farm.

"Oh Christ…" Joe looked around the burnt crops.

"Where did you see them last?" Michael asked me.

"Down here." I said, sliding down the hill and running to the spot where I last saw Victoria. Michael then kneeled down at the spot, feeling the dirt.

"There's signs of them here, and they lead that way." Michael said, pointing out of the farm.

With the help of Michael's tracking skills, we followed a path in the dirt, looking around for them and keeping low to the ground. We finally made it to a cave not too far from Megaton. Joe held out a flashlight and peered inside with it as Michael and I pulled out our weapons.

"Remember your training Mike, and we can still get out of here with Victoria." Joe told him quietly.

"Don't worry about it, I learned from the best. Do you think I should get a bandana?" Michael said with a smile as he blinked slowly at Joe. Joe turned back at him.

"Are you ga—"

"Now's not the time for this." I said as I aimed my pistol down the dark cave.

"You son of a bitch." Michael muttered to me.

We walked deeper into the cave, where it opened up into a camp, where there was fire in the center, surrounded by a group of raiders laughing and drinking.

"Yeah, he'll be up here next week for her." A raider said.

"How much are we getting for this?" Another asked.

"A good amount, no doubt. She's on the list."

The three of us crept into the cave and startled the raiders by our noise. They got up, some of them falling over, while the others pulled out their guns. I fired into them, running into cover.

"_Where's my wife?!_" I shouted in my cover.

"She about to be just like you, dead!" A raider shouted.

I ran out of my cover and ran at the raider, shooting him in the chest and charging into him, sending him into a box of food. I stared down at him and clenched my fists. I turned around to a raider aiming a shotgun at me. I put my hands up as the raider picked the shotgun up to his eyes, looking through the sights, and aiming the barrel at my head. A shot fired at the raider made him look at me for a moment quizzically. He felt his chest and looked at me.

"Wait, what the f-" A bullet raced through his head and he fell to the ground. I turned to Michael, who nodded at me and showed me deeper into the cave, aiming his pistol at the darkness. I pulled Joe off of a dead raider and he looked at the raider that almost killed me. My hands clammy and balled up I walked forward, looking around for Victoria.

Joe and I ran ahead of Michael and into a room where raiders stood in front of cages with people in it. The raiders were ready for me, aiming rifles and pistols at us. I looked into a cage and saw Victoria inside of it, looking at us and holding her power fist.

"Victoria!" I shouted as I walked forward. The raiders then cocked their weapons at me, making me stop.

"Well look-ie here! We've got some volunteering help!" A raider smiled as she aimed an assault rifle at me. I recognized her short orange hair and realized she was the one that took Victoria.

"Let her go, and we'll leave." I told them.

"I have a better idea! What about 'no'? Asshole?" The raider answered.

"Drop your weapons." She ordered us. Joe and I then bowed, and dropped our weapons on the ground.

"Now get in the cage." She commanded as she opened up a cage door, directly across from Victoria.

"Fuck you!" I shouted. I felt something poke at my back.

"Get in the cage, Jace." Michael's voice told me.

Joe turned around to see the boy. "Michael? Oh, you're breaking my heart, and now I'm going to have to break your ass."

"And you say _I'm _the gay one?" Michael asked.

"You totally are. Have you seen your haircut?"

"IT'S THE SAME AS YOURS! And just so you know, I'll happily use my _hollow points_ on both of you… you know… because hollow points are _badass_. Now... get in the cage." Michael said angrily.

"You happy now, Joe? You've finally got a fan." I sighed.

"I'm not a fan! I'm his BEST FRIEND!" Michael yelled as he kicked my knees.

"Where were you when he and I had to fight through a radscorpion den?! Because I was there and we fought them all off!" Michael screamed.

Joe and I started to walk slowly to the large metal cage as the raiders peered at us with their weapons. I turned to Victoria as she stared at us, breathing heavily. She then gasped and held her stomach with both of her hands, screaming and falling to the ground, holding her stomach.

"Holy shit, what's wrong now?" The woman asked.

"The baby... she's coming..." Victoria moaned and sweat.

"Oh shut up and stop trying to shift our attention." The woman said.

Michael's feet sloshed. "I'm uh… I'm stepping in… uh…"

"Ew, you've got to be kidding me!"" She screamed as she stepped back. The raiders then backed away and stared at Victoria as she breathed heavily and started to sweat. As the raiders backed away in disgust, I jumped out and punched the woman as hard as I could in the face, throwing out my shoulder way too much and making me bend over to my knees as the woman fell. Joe then kicked up his rifle and held it by the barrel, and smacked Michael in the head with the stock, knocking him down. Joe then turned and fired at a raider, pulling the bolt action afterwards. Victoria screamed through her contractions and got to her feet, punching through the bars and sending them into a raider, impaling him with metal rods. She then stumbled to walk.

"I just punched a woman in the face." I huffed, disgusted in saying those words.

"It's okay, she was a bitch. It brought her down to a six on the sexy-scale." Joe shrugged.

"Shut up about the sexy-scale! I'M HAVING A GODDAMN BABY!" Victoria screamed as she fell onto me.

"And _I'm_ having hearing problems for the rest of my life if you keep that up, Vee." Joe replied. Vee looked at Joe's face for a moment, and brought down the mother of all elbows into his ribs. Joe arched back and took a breathed as it slapped against him. Michael used that moment to slide kicked Joe to the ground and get up, picking up his rifle and running back into the cave. He lit a match and threw it at the ground, igniting gasoline and illuminating the cave to the words "MARRY ME?"

"You've got to be shitting me." Joe grutned from the ground as I held Vee back.

"I've got this, guys." Joe said to us as he got up slowly.

"Mike…" Joe called to him.

"I need you, Joe! I NEED YOU!" Michael screamed as he ran at Joe with a knife.

"Joe looked out!" I yelled at him as Michael slashed it into Joe's face. Joe screamed and fell back as he held his face. He got up slowly and turned back to us, grabbing at a bald patch in his thick beard.

Joe's eyes shot open wide. "Did you just—"

Michael taped Joe's beard hair to his chin and wrapped a red bandana around his head.

"I need you! I NEED TO BE YOU!" Michael yelled as the fire ignited tables and food boxes.

"Vee, stay here." I told my wife as I ran over to aid Joe.

"NOOOO! NOT YOOUU!" Michael bellowed as he fired at me.

Joe pushed me away into cover as Michael screamed hysterically and fired at the rock.

"I said I got this!" Joe yelled at me.

"What the hell are you talking about?! He stole your beard and bandana!" I yelled back.

"You're not his best friend! I AAAAAM!" Michael yelled to the heavens.

"Shut up with your bromance and fucking kill this guy already!" Victoria shouted through her contractions.

Michael pulled out a bottle of whiskey and chugged the bottle. "ALCOHOL MAKES ME FUNNIER!" Michael screeched after the swig.

"This is absolutely ridiculous!" Joe shouted at the parody of himself.

Michael took another sip of booze and ran over to Joe.

"I love you, BUDDY! Let's get drunk and get into fights because I don't know how to mask my feelings!" Michael laughed as he tackled Joe to the ground and slashed off more beard hair. I ran over to Michael and jumped on his back as he ran out of the way, taking us both to the side. He soon fell after his quick turn and we both fell to the ground. Michael kicked me away and I returned to my cover spot.

"You fucking shit! I'm not like that at all!" Joe shouted as he felt skin where beard used to be.

Michael taped the hairs onto his mouth and fired at my cover spot.

"I just don't want to be lonely! So I mark women on a scale to undermine them to the point where they feel their self-esteem is equal to mine!" Michael yelled.

"How much thought have you put into this shit?!" Joe shouted back.

"EVERY THOUGHT! YOU—ARE MY—EVERYTHING!"

"Joe…" I called over impatiently.

"If you two cock-birds don't solve this soon, I'm going to stab you both in your UERETHRAS!" Victoria yelled in pain, sobbing in pain afterwards.

"Joe, I really don't want that to happen!" I yelled through the firefight.

"What the fuck do you want _me_ to do, _marry_ him?!" Joe yelled. I raised both eyebrows at the prospect.

"Fuck you, Jace!" Joe pointed at me as a stray bullet hit the rock ground.

We looked to see Michael holding a half-empty whiskey bottle and firing lazily at us.

"Cool, he's drunk, now can we plea—"

"FUCKING KILL HIM ALREADY!" Vee screeched.

Joe and I ran from cover at Michael as he licked the beard hairs on his mouth and lifted his rifle at us. He pointed it at me and pulled the trigger as Joe tackled him to the ground. The bullet missed and sparked off the chain gate of Vee's prison cell. Joe slammed his fist into Michael and lifted him up. Michael ran into Joe and hugged him warmly as Joe backed away in disgust.

"I—I love you! I Looove you!" Michael sobbed.

Joe pushed him away as Michael lifted up his rifle and bashed it against Joe's head using the room Joe gave him.

"Are you serious, Joe?!" I yelled at him.

"He smells like sweat and oil!" Joe argued as I ran at Michael and grabbed the rifle barrel and threw it to the side.

"Get away from me!" Michael yelled as retched free from my grasp.

"He doesn't like you! He likes me! He calls me 'buddy' and gives me pats on the back!" Michael sobbed at me.

"I… I have feelings like Joe, and… I keep them locked away under all my facial hair and drinking!" Michael cried at me pathetically. I rolled my eyes to let the kid vent.

"I'm the comedic release of the group and I keep heavy situations light with my sarcasm!" He continued. I folded my arms.

"Sometimes… sometimes I like to write books because I'm secretly deep and brooding…"

"And… and another thing, there are times where I can't decide what's good and bad and so I decide to save whatever's closest to family an—"

Joe bashed the back of Michael's head violently with his rifle from behind and echoed out a scream and smack as Michael dropped to the floor instantly.

"Oh my God… he's so annoying…" Joe exhaled.

"I'm not like that, right?" Joe looked up at me.

"Eh." I shrugged.

Vee inhaled and shook her head. "I'm gonna kill you… I'm gonna kill you both. You—two—FUCK-STUMPS!"

"One second, honey!" I called over to her as I ran to aid my wife.

Joe stared down at Michael and held his rifle at his head.

"I know what you're going to say. I could have done better if I lived a pure life." Michael sighed at him.

"No, I was just going to say you're nothing like me and I hate you." Joe told him quickly.

"Wha-" Joe fired into Michael's head and lowered it gun afterwards, closing his eyes and shaking his head at the body, he then turned to the unconscious red haired woman and fired. He then smiled at his rifle. "Where was that booze?" Joe asked as he picked up the bottle and drank from it.

"I really do like this thing." Joe said to himself as he appreciated the rifle. I quickly smacked the bottle from his head and broke the glass on the ground with my free hand as I helped carry Victoria away. Joe then holstered his weapon and helped carry Victoria out of the cave.

"I know this isn't the time Vee, but you are _way_ heavier than the last time I carried you." Joe grunted as we ran outside, making haste to Megaton.

"I've got a friggen' baby in my stomach, you idiot!" Victoria screamed.

"And she's already got to lay off the cake. Make sure you give her Barbies to play with, okay?"


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Legacy**

We made it as fast as we could to the city, screaming at the guards to open the gate. Victoria screamed as Joe and I eased her. Walter heard the screams and ran to us.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he wiped his hands with a cloth.

"HOLY SHIT, IS IT THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT?!" Victoria screamed as she blew away a strand of loose hair from her face.

"Oh, she's having a baby!" Walter smiled as he walked to us.

"NO-SHIT!" Vee screamed between hard breaths.

He helped me carry her to the doctor. We opened the door and carried her inside. A nurse looked surprised and called for doctors to help her. They walked her to a bed and told me to wait outside until she's ready. Walter was already sitting on a bench. I sat next to him.

"This is a happy day, you should be excited." Walter said calmly.

"I just hope she's alright." I said as I held my knees.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine, man. Cheer up." Walter said, slapping my arm.

We waited there for an hour until the doctors told me to go inside. She sweated profusely and I grabbed her hand, trying to ease her through this. They told me to walk her through her contractions.

"Alright, push!" The doctor instructed.

Victoria screamed loudly and threw her head up, squeezing my hand as hard as she could.

"It's okay, Victoria, you're going to be fine." I eased her.

"No shit you fucking dipshit. It—hurts—NOW!" She screamed, almost weeping.

"Well if you just going to treat me like that I'll just le—"

"Don't even talk like him for a second!" Vee yelled at me, referencing Joe.

She squeezed my hand hard and continued to scream.

I kept telling her to focus on breathing and pushing. Her pained cries were heard throughout the building, and possibly even the town.

"Control your breathing; I can see the baby's head!" The doctor said.

She screamed louder and louder every time the doctors told her progress. My hand was red from being squeezed, but not as red as Victoria, who now is sweating like she's been next to a fire for an hour.

"She's almost out, just one last, big push!" The doctor ordered.

She screamed louder than any noise I've ever heard in my entire life. I heard the door creak open and saw Joe peek in. He had shaven the rest of his beard off.

"Hey guys I just got back together with Natalie, is everything alright he-"

He looked at what the doctors were doing and stared with his mouth open. His face of surprise turned to a face of horror as he found out what the doctors were really doing. He turned away from the door and ran away. Victoria continued to scream as I told her to breathe and then push.

"There she is!" The doctor exclaimed, holding up the bloody, crying, baby.

Victoria caught her breath, yet continued holding my hand.

"You did it Victoria." I sighed in relief, kissing her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry I yelled at you." She breathed hard.

"I totally understand. Although I do take it as a personal offense."

The doctors took the baby away and sanitized her, wrapped her in a cloth and gave her to Victoria. She held the baby in her arms and looked at her. She had brown eyes and starting to close them as she went to sleep.

"Hi Sarah, I'm your mommy, and this is your daddy..." Victoria said softly, still out of breath after hours of screaming.

"So that's her name? Sarah?" The doctor asked us.

"Yes…" Vee smiled as she looked at her husband and best friends as she thought of a middle name.

"Sarah Josephine Marston." She told us.

"She's beautiful." Victoria told me.

"Just like her mommy." I smiled and put my arm around Victoria.

Joe slowly opened the door to the room and popped his head in.

"I… I heard that you shit yourself when you give birth." Joe said in a slow, child-like way.

"I don't want to see your patchy, red fucking face for the rest of the day, Joe." Vee said calmly as she stroked Sarah's head.

"Okay. Bye guys." Joe said quietly as his head retracted and closed the door.

We went back home in the next few days. A large group of people, including Moira, Jab, Joe, and Walter, cheered for us as I pushed Victoria outside in a wheelchair. We then went home. Walter made us a crib out of spare wood and wrapped it in cloth. He also made some toys for her out of cloth and stuffing.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Walter." I said, shaking his hand, and giving him money.

"No problem. What's this?" He asked.

"I think it's time I paid you back." I smiled as I walked away.

We laid Sarah in her crib and put her blanket over her. Joe walked inside, eager to see the baby. He walked up to the crib and stared at her.

"I saw too much of you that day, Vee. I'm not sure if I can look at you the same way again." Joe looked over to the baby. "Wow...she looks better than you, Vee." Joe whispered gently. "I've got it." I eased Vee as I elbowed him in the ribs.

"You two have gotten really good at that." Joe choked from the blow.

Joe grouped the three of us together, me in one arm, and Victoria in the other.

"You see this? You guys did this! With your adult parts!" Joe smiled. We gently pushed him off.

I waited until night and called Victoria over to the baby's room. I showed her the books that I kept with me.

"How'd you get these?" She asked, surprised by my present.

"Rachel gave us them as a present." I told her with a smile.

"When?" She asked.

"When we first found out you were having a baby. I've kept them a secret until now. You should really trust me less. I keep so many secrets from you; I'm pretty much a spy." I smiled, brushing off my shoulders in my great feat of hiding something from her.

"You're the best." She said. She kissed me.

"And you've got four seconds until this house explodes." I joked.

We started reading the books to Sarah every night. Victoria sung to her all the time, despite Joe's constant reminder of her "bird voice". Before I went to sleep, I would kiss Sarah's forehead. If I didn't, she would wake up in the middle of the night and cry. I would then get up and rock her to sleep and then kiss her goodnight. Victoria saw how happy I was with the baby, and would let me read to her all the time. I don't know why, but I started to shave my beard and trim my hair regularly. I started to calm down more, with my job and my life.

As the years went on, Sarah started to grow in teeth and talk. Soon she was able to walk thanks to some help by her parents, as Joe still stumbled like a baby, especially when he was drunk. Her blackening hair grew longer everyday so we had to give her regular haircuts to keep it at a normal length. The next 3 years seemed like it flew by. But still, a constant reminder stuck in the back of my head. There was still danger out there, and there wasn't a thing I could do to stop it. I was outside fixing the steps so they didn't creak or rattle when we walked up them. Sarah then walked up to me.

"What are you doing, daddy?" Sarah asked.

"I'm fixing the stairs." I smiled.

"So I don't fall when I walk up them?"

"Yeah. I don't want your noggin getting a bump on it anymore." I hugged her and kissed her forehead. She giggled.

"Is uncle Joe staying for dinner tonight?" She asked.

"Of course he is, but you make sure you don't touch his big-boy juice, okay? It's not for you. To be honest, it's not for him either, but Uncle Joe has a problem with that stuff and most people decide to just let it fester because they're afraid of what's gonna happen if they try to separate him from it!"

Sarah stared at me.

"Hey, daddy? Wanna play a game?" She asked.

"Sure, I can spare the time. What do you want to play?" I asked as I crouched down to her level.

"Let's play hide-and-seek!" You count first. I'll hide." She said excitedly.

"Okay, kiddo." I said as I cupped my hands over my eyes. I purposely opened my fingers so I could see her.

"You're cheating!" She said as she pointed at me, smiling.

"I'm sorry." I said chuckling.

"Okay, start counting!" Sarah said.

"1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! Ready or not, here I come!" I shouted.

Sarah left the door open, so I checked inside the house. I saw her immediately under the table, but I acted like I didn't. Victoria smiled at me as I snooped around the house.

"Hello, miss. Have you seen a little girl around here?" I asked.

"No, no I haven't." Victoria said, playing along with the joke.

"And I _definitely_ didn't see her under the table!" Victoria said.

"Oh well, thank you anyway, miss. I hope you're not harboring a fugitive. She's been on the run for months now and probably smells like poo." I said with a smile. I heard Sarah gasp in with my insult.

I continued to search around the house, checking in closets and under beds. I eventually went to the table and started to circle it. I circled the table a few times until I quickly jumped under it to spook her.

"Found y—"

Sarah was no longer there. My playful smile changed to an inquisitive smirk as I got up and looked at Victoria. "Hey have you seen Sarah?" I asked her.

"Is this a playful question or do you seriously not kn—"

The conversation in our house along with every other house in Megaton was cut short due to a piercing gunshot. A sound so identifiable with us that we knew exactly what it was. We stood in silence and looked at each other. We heard yelling in the distance, then more gunfire. People were shooting everywhere it sounded like.

"_Jace_." Victoria looked worriedly at me as we both crouched down.

"Find Sarah!" She yelled over the approaching gunshots. "Find Sarah!"

The bullets came from an assault rifle, maybe a shotgun and a pistol or two. My guess was a raider party nearing the town. I jumped to my feet and sprinted around the house. "SARAH?!" I shouted as I looked over all possible hiding spots. I swung the front door open, almost breaking it down as the gunshots and yelling became more apparent to us. I ran down the squeaking steps and stopped for a moment at the bottom one. I then ducked down to my feet and checked under the stairs. There was Sarah, crouched and scared from my serious screaming. "Sarah, get inside." I instructed her.

"Daddy I-" We heard a gunshots outside. Sarah looked at me.

"Sarah, listen to me. Get _inside_."

"But daddy-"

"Sarah get in the goddamn house!" I screamed at her as the gunshots echoed in our ears.

"Okay, daddy."

Sarah walked inside. I ran to the sheriff's department. Joe was inside talking to a random girl.

"You know, I think you could be about an eight on the-"

"Joe, there's gunfire coming from outside." I said. Joe pushed the girl away from him harshly and ran to a closet. He opened it and tossed me my holster belt while he put on his.

"What am I an eight on?" The woman asked, brushing her clothes off from her tumble.

"Shut up about your number! There's danger, woman!" Joe shouted as he reloaded his assault rifle. "I'm also in a relationship. Kind of. We're taking a break, now."

We ran outside to the gates. There were five raiders standing towards us, holding weapons at us and our security forces.

"Now you must be eight different kinds of stupid coming to this town like that. What's your business here?" I asked.

"We didn't shoot because they said they had a message." A guard said.

"Well, get on with it then, what is it?" I asked.

"Your boys are right, we _do_ have a message." The raider held a grenade up to the air. Joe and I took out our weapons. I aimed my revolver at the raiders arm. I used my signal to Joe which meant that to focus on the other raiders when we fire. We used this commonly on raiders since Joe has an automatic rifle and I have a revolver. I shoot the main person, while Joe sprays bullets at the rest. I pulled the hammer back on my revolver and aimed at the arm to disarm the raider of the grenade.

"We've been watching you for a while now. Chain says to 'let it go'." The raider pulled the pin on the grenade as I shot his arm. Joe sprayed at the raiders and they all scrambled for cover. The grenade went flying behind them. After we finished shooting, we ducked behind cover and waited for the explosion. Dirt and fire flew up from the round as we covered our ears. We got up from the cover and looked at the raiders.

"What the hell was that all about?" I asked.

"I don't know, but that idea was pretty fuckin' stupid." Joe said as he dusted himself off of dirt and blood.

We walked over to the raiders. Four were dead, and one managed to hide from the bullets under his comrade. Joe picked him up with an evil smile on his face.

"Hey, buddy. How's it going? Good? Well, being a scared like a little girl is now going to cost you." Joe said to the raider.

"Nice hat, Walker Texas Asshole, where'd you find it, off the ground?" The raider retorted.

"You… son-of-a-bitch." Joe grunted as he pulled the man forward.

"Let's go, Jace." Joe told me.

We brought the raider to the jail. I let Joe interrogate the raider while I waited outside the room. Victoria then walked in with a worried look on her face.

"What happened? Sarah ran to me and she told me that you wanted her inside." Victoria said.

"It was raiders. We got rid of them, Joe's interrogating one now." I said. I heard faint yelling and cursing behind me, along with loud smacking.

"Where's Chain?!" Joe yelled at the man as he punched the raider in the face with a fist wrapped with a bloody cloth.

"I say nothing to you, faggot!"

"I—I… w-what'd you call me?" Joe asked him.

"I sai—" Joe punched him before he could finish.

"Oh I'm sorry, that was the part where I would let you talk… instead I punched you."

"The one with the jokes… Joey…" The raider looked at him.

"How do you know who I am?" Joe asked him as he shook his punching arm.

"We know everyone here in Megaton. Joey, Jace, Victoria… _Sarah_."

The last one made Joe's heart sink. He stared at him in silence for a moment.

"How do you know our names?" Joe asked him, running up and holding him by the neck. "Answer me!"

"Check the mailboxes tomorrow outside of town."

Joe let go of the raider and stared into his eyes.

"Wow, he's really getting into it." Vee said outside.

"The raider insulted him; I think he's just doing that because he's wants to, not because he wants answers." I shrugged. I heard muffled speaking and then more smacking behind me.

"Did he get anything so far?" She asked.

"I don't know, I'll ask. I knocked on the door behind me. I heard one more muffled sentence and then another smack. Joe walked out and grabbed a cloth and started to wipe the blood off his hands. Sweat drenched him and his shirt. His hands shook and he didn't know the reason. After we left he sat in his desk and thought to himself, breathing in and out.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Not a Time For Jokes**

We agreed to let Joe handle this one, since this was his department. Vee and I went home and ran through a few quick lessons on stranger danger with Sarah before eating dinner and going to bed. The next morning was the day we checked the perimeter of town, so Joe and I set off to make sure there weren't any more raiders tucked away in holes somewhere close.

"So how's Nat?" I asked him as we patrolled the outside of Megaton.

"High up on the sexy scale, Jace."

"You think you may have found something good?"

"Dunno, Jace." He shrugged.

I looked at him quizzically and bent down. I picked up a rock and threw it at his back as he turned away. "What was that for?" He was irritated.

"What's wrong with you, dude?" I asked him.

"Nothing. I'm in work mode, you know how it is." He explained as he went to an old mailbox and opened it up, looking inside.

"What's inside?" I asked him.

"Just an entire baseball bat, nothing much."

"Oh." I nodded.

Joe checked the next mailbox in the house nearby.

"What are you looking for?"

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. I'm bored." He said genuinely.

"Seriously dude, you're creeping me out with the normal small-talk shit."

"Jace, I don't know what you want; I'm just doing our job. Remember how we're law enforcement? Remember how we have people to protect?"

I pointed at him and caught him in the act. "There's that humane shit again. When did you become the rational guy?"

Joe sighed and turned around. "Things look clear, let's head back home."

"Alright, Joe." I bobbed my head up and down and walked with him back to the Megaton gates.

"I'll uh, meet you and Vee at the saloon; we'll get drinks tonight, okay?" Joe suggested as we walked through town.

"Sure. See you tonight."

Joe sighed and dug his hands into his pockets, pulling out a piece of mail that was put in there not but fifteen minutes ago using some sleight-of-hand in a mailbox. He walked into his office and closed the door behind him. He looked over to a raider handcuffed to his desk and looked at the mail, stepping over him as he sat in his chair.

"Afternoon, Giggles." Joe told the raider as he lay on the ground, glaring at Joe.

"You cock-shit! Release me!" Giggles shouted.

"For a man named 'Giggles', you're not that fun to be around."

Joe opened up the letter on his desk and unfolded it before him.

"Meet me in front of the Nuka Cola Machine outside the town tonight. Go alone.

Chain"

"Wow, he's got pretty handwriting." Joe nodded at the note as he folded it up and put it in his pockets.

"Are you hungry Giggles?" Joe asked the raider as he shook the desk leg angrily.

"ONLY FOR YOUR TAINTED HEART!"

"How's mac and cheese?"

"I WILL PLANT MY SEED IN YOUR FIRSTBORN, DEVIL!"

"Well someone's not eating tonight." Joe sighed as he got up and left his office.

"COME AND FACE ME, BABY CHEEKS!"

"Who the hell gave you the nickname 'Giggles'?" Joe asked himself as he looked over to the saloon and sighed. He turned his back to it and left the city.

The sun began to set, and Joe walked down the cracked and dirty streets with his assault rifle in his hands. He spotted the abandoned parking lot with a Nuka Cola machine out in front. As the sun kissed the horizon at the end of Joe's apparent vision, he waited. He waited patiently until he heard a muffled scream to his right. He pulled up his assault rifle and aimed it at a raider as he cupped his hands around the mouth of Natalie. Joe's eyes shot open as he aimed for the raider's head.

"Drop the gun, Joey." A grizzled voice said behind him as he felt a gun to his head.

Joe inhaled sharply and exhaled quickly as Natalie stared into his pained eyes. He reluctantly lowered his weapon and put it in the holster. He turned around to see a man with a stop sign attached to his armor.

"I'm surprised you actually came here." Joe told him in a low voice.

"I'm surprised your first words weren't a wise crack." He stared at him and crossed his arms.

"Now's not a time for jokes, I think." Joe glared at him, and then glanced over to Nat and sighed, calming his face to have a normal conversation.

"Let her go, she won't scream. Even if she does, no one in town will hear her. We're too far out." Joe told them.

The raider looked over to Chain, and the leader nodded. Natalie broke free from his grasp and fell to her knees, gasping and choking on her hands and knees. She looked up at Joe and sobbed in fear. Joe looked down at her calmly, almost ignoring her. The raider held a gun at Joe to keep him in place.

"So what do you want?" Joe asked the leader.

"Take a pick of my three newest buddies." Chain responded as he crossed his arms, exposing a miniature chainsaw holstered on his bicep. "I've been doing my scouting, as you can tell. Figured out why exactly you and your friends hate me so much—"

"You couldn't figure it out yourself?" Joe interrupted.

"I never said I was smart, Joey. Just clever."

Chain ripped Natalie from the ground by her hair and held her face up to Joe's eyes.

"Joe!" Natalie yelled in pain. Joe looked back at her dolefully.

"You like what I did here? Turns out I'm not some junkie raider after all, huh?"

"Congrats, you're a regular villain. Why are we even still talking? I'm here; you've got the upper hand, just shoot me and get it over with already." Joe said in irritation.

"There's a reason why I picked you for this, Joe. Your two friends have some fire in them, that's clear. But not you, you're different. You don't seem to care at all whether I'm alive or not. You don't seem to take anything seriously, not even this." Chain pulled out his chainsaw and held the jagged and bloody chain against Natalie's neck. Natalie yelped and whined as she struggled to get free. Joe looked at Natalie, and then up at Chain. He crossed his arms.

"Nothing? Really?" Chain asked him in disappointment.

"There's not much I can do to change what you're going to do here. So do what you're gonna do."

"Wow… and I thought _you_ were the dumb one of the three." Chain nodded.

"I never said I was dumb. Just not as clever as you." Joe crossed his arms and waited semi-patiently.

"Since I can't get a rise out of you, I'll just let you know my demands. You bring your friends out here for us, and I'll maybe think about letting you and your girl here go free… at least for a little bit."

Chain bent down to Natalie and breathed heavily on her neck. Joe didn't flinch. "Joe… please… do something! PLEASE!" Natalie begged. Joe cleared his throat and continued to cross his arms with an unimpressed facial expression.

"It was worth a shot." Chain said as he dropped Natalie to the floor.

Chain walked up to Joe and he towered over the sheriff. "I heard Sarah's turning four next month."

Joe's eyes changed expression as he breathed in his horrible breath from their five inch tension.

"You don't care about a bitch. That's fair. But I hope you'll play ball when that little girl's on the line, Doughy-Joey."

Joe breathed heavily in through his nose and picked his next words carefully. "You've made your point."

"Remember what I said, I've got spies, Joey. Let anyone know what's going on here and… well… you're apparently smart enough to figure it out." Chain warned as he and his raider lackey walked away.

"Bring them here, same time tomorrow. Please don't make me hurt a little girl to make a point. I've got a heart, just like you." Chain called as Natalie got up and ran to Joe and hugged him. Joe didn't move a muscle as she hugged him. He stood still, his eyes fixated on Chain. Natalie whimpered as Joe stared at him with his arms at his sides until he was out of his vision.

Meanwhile, Victoria and I arrived at the bar. We sat on the counter until the sun set, and looked at each other. "He stood us up." I shook my head at her.

"That's what we get for not being cool, I guess." Vee sighed.

"Jab!" I yelled.

"Get us two gin and tonics!"

"Why is everyone doing this to me, now?! I just want respect!" Jab sobbed as he poured us drinks.

"Let's just take these to go." I shrugged as Vee nodded. We took the drinks and left the bar as Jab wiped tears from his face.

"Nobody likes me!" Jab whined.

"Ah, you're getting' tears in me booze! Sell! Not cry! Or I'll get your brother to replace you!" Colin yelled as he snatched the drink from Jab.

Vee and I held hands as we walked with our drinks through the town, waiting for the numbing night that awaited us without the constant peppering of jokes from Joe. We walked through the streets past people until Joe bumped into me. I spilled my drink on him, but he didn't notice. He didn't even notice that he had bumped into anyone. He just kept his eyes straight ahead and walked forward. Vee and I exchanged looks and jogged up to Joe, turning him around.

"Joe! What's up?" I asked him.

"Huh? Oh, hey guys. I'm sorry I couldn't get drinks with you tonight, I'm just really tired." Joe sighed in the most wide awake voice I've ever heard.

"Alright, maybe tomorrow, buddy." Vee smiled as she playfully elbowed him.

Joe pulled out a smile and turned away from us, and we turned away from him. He walked a few feet until he turned around.

"Hey, guys!" He called to us with hesitation.

"Huh?"

"Can you guys do me a favor… tomorrow?"

"Uh… yeah. What do you need from us?"

Joe took us into his office and let us know his errand for us. We were to deliver a "private letter" to one of Joe's "old friends" who lives in a house near Springvale, a few minutes away from town. After a firing squad's worth of questions, we agreed and went to bed for the night. Joe stayed in his office with his hat off and his bandana resting lightly on his brown hair. He sighed and looked down at Giggles as he slept next to his desk. He then sighed again, even louder as he felt the letter and thought to himself.

He spent the entire night wide awake; his thumbs running across the letter Chain gave him, thinking of Natalie's beautiful face, the way she smiled when they first met. Because that's all he saw; a beautiful face: not the tears running down it when Chain threatened her or the fear of her life, Joe never saw any of that, not even in his reflection. But now, he was forced to, and it killed him inside. What he was about to do would haunt his life. He was going to do something that would make him awake in a cold sweat years later. He was about to make a serious decision, and it scared him.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Buddy**

"You mind telling me what this letter's about?" I asked Joe the next morning as we walked through the streets.

"Ex-girlfriend. She's been making death threats and I'm ending it. Please don't read it, Jace. It's personal." Joe said in a tired voice.

"No worries, Joe. You can count on us, buddy."

Joe coughed; his heart dropped hearing the word. "Thanks."

"What's the matter with you lately? Don't tell me this girl's getting to you."

"No, it's not that—"

"Oh, man! This girl's totally got you by your heart strings!" I laughed as I flapped the letter around.

"Aw Joey!" I teased, using another trigger word for Joe.

"_Shut up_, Jace." Joe sighed as I looked at him, noticing the gray bags under his eyes.

"Sorry, Joe." I said honestly.

"It's… fine, Jace." Joe said painfully.

"Don't worry, bud. You'll feel better when we give her this message."

"Yeah."

Joe walked away without saying goodbye. He walked faster than usual and without his smug swagger as he usually did. He walked like a skinny, timid boy, and that wasn't Joe. I figured something was going on. So I asked Vee about it. I walked back home and saw Sarah napping on the couch as Vee sat at home and played with an old yellow cloth with questionable red stains on it.

"Hey." I whispered with a smile as she got up and smiled back. She walked up and we hugged.

"So you talked to Joe today?" She asked.

"Yeah. He didn't really seem to know about Chain. He wants us to focus more on the town right now."

"And that's why we're playing pony express?"

"Guess so." I shrugged. "Sounds a lot sexier now that you said it."

"Shut up." Vee sighed as she sat down.

"What's up?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"Nothing. We're getting a convoy up to trade for Springvale's medical equipment."

"Don't change the subject. I like to think I know you enough to know when something's up. What is going on with everyone lately?"

"Do you… ever feel… bored?"

"Uh… yeah? That kind of happens a lot, Vee. We're in the middle of friggen' nowhere. I stared at brahmin shit for five minutes the other day because it looked familiar to me."

"Language." Vee hushed me as she glanced over to Sarah. "And I know. I just want to know… are you happy with that?"

"I am if you are."

"I am. I am." She smiled the second time.

"You're ready to travel right? Have you been stretching?" I asked her as I got up.

"Yeah. Don't worry. I haven't lost my touch."

"That was a pun, right? Because you punch things?" She looked at me with not response. "I'm sorry, I totally understand why you're bored here." I added.

"I'm not bored." Vee argued.

"Sorry. I get it, not bored. My bad."

"Just go and get Walter so he can babysit Sarah." Vee sighed.

"Why not Joe?"

"Joe's… Joe's not in a good place right now. Let's not trouble him more."

I looked at her and squinted. "Hold on, do you not trust him with Sarah?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then why not get him? He's our friend, Vee. He's our _best friend_."

"I just don't want him around Sarah now!" Vee argued.

"What has gotten into you guys recently? Everything's going great, and you guys are just giving up because it's monotonous?! After all we worked for we're just going to turn on each other?"

"I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry that I want something different for my life!"

"So you admit it, you _are_ bored!"

"Yes! Fine! I'm bored and I think that Joe's been acting sketchy lately, so I don't want him around our daughter! Is that okay?! Is that good enough for you? Can I _please_ protect our daughter, Jace?!"

I looked at her and shook my head. "Protect her… from Joe."

"Jace, you haven't known Joe as long as I have. Listen to me: he—hasn't—grown—up. He's a kid inside so he shouldn't be in charge of ours!"

"Joe's taken care of us before, Victoria! How could you say that about him?!"

"No he hasn't, Jace! He hasn't nursed us, he just dropped us off so he can go to the bar and get drunk! I don't want that around our—"

We looked to our side and saw Sarah standing there, her face groggy and misunderstood.

Vee crouched down to her and looked down, switching to "Mom mode". I sighed and looked to the door.

"I'll go get Walter." I decided as I left.

"Why are you screaming?" Sarah asked her mother.

"We were just... Uh… rehearsing for a…"

"Do you hate Uncle Joe?"

"Kind of forgot you're my daughter." She mumbled, impressed by her wit. "I don't hate him, Sarah. Joe's a great friend. But he's just that. He doesn't have it inside him to do what your father and I do, and that's protect you."

Joe sat by himself in his office with no light on, using the sunlight seeping through the walls to reload a bolt-action rifle. He cleaned it, his hands shaking in fear, but his face seeming to be disconnected from his hand, at least in an emotional way. His eyes were calm and his mouth shut, his nose doing the breathing; the hard, quick breathing.

"I just want you to know that your father and I love you very much, Sarah. But we have to go now, okay? Just for a little bit."

Joe sighed quickly as he got up and walked out of his office, to the meeting point.

Victoria kissed her daughter on the head and smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, mommy." Sarah smiled, showing her baby teeth.

I came back to say my goodbyes and left to deliver the letter with Victoria as Walter sat with our daughter to read her a story. Joe walked out of Megaton, his hands flicking invisible things away at his sides as he walked. He had a lit cigarette in his mouth. It barely stuck to his lips as he breathed through his mouth now. He made no eye contact with anyone and walked out. Vee and I silently walked to make the delivery, making small talk about the letter. We finally arrived, and looked at the houses, checking to see if any girl lived in them when the irony was that those houses have been abandoned for years. Joe waited impatiently further away from us, smoking the cigarette and tapping his foot. Chain and his men walked quickly through the Wasteland to their destination: a couple of fools to be given to the slave trade. They raced to their goal, and made it obvious that they were coming.

"What was that?" Vee asked me as she heard a noise.

I pulled out my pistol as she pumped her gauntlet.

Joe breathed out hard and choked up. His eyes were red as he smoked his cigarette. He brushed ash off his duster, and his Megaton sheriff's badge shined in the sun.

"I hear something." She told me.

"Get down." I told her.

Chain's men rushed to the rendezvous place, and surrounded their prey. They had no idea what was going to happen next.

I saw the threat and sighed. "It was just a mole rat." I told her as we looked at the small, whiskered rodent as it scurried around. We were then left in silence.

Chain and his men surrounded Joe miles away from us at the actual rendezvous point.

"Well… well." Chain sighed as he looked at the lone sheriff.

"I thought you were the smart one, Joey." Chain shook his head at him.

Joe stopped daydreaming and looked up at Chain. "I'm not smart. I'm not as clever as you are. I'm just a man, and I've got you beat there." Joe said weakly as he dropped the cigarette on the ground.

"You know what this means, right?" Chain asked him.

"Someone's gonna die in the end. I know." Joe told him quietly.

"You're damn right."

"And I hope to God they get you first."

Joe pulled out his bolt action rifle and fired at Chain, sparking the bullet off his armor. A raider popped a bullet into Joe's side, and sent him into the ground. The raider's converged on Joe as he bled onto the ground. Chain looked at the sheriff with pity.

"You think you did something good, Joey. You're wrong. You started a war you won't be around to finish."

Joe looked up at him and breathed heavily until he passed out.

"These houses are barricaded, Jace. No one's been in these for ages." Vee told me.

"This is the place, Victoria."

"This is where _Joe_ told us to go." She looked at me.

"There it is again. Joe knows this place more than you. If he says this is the place, then this is the place." I decided. We gave up hours later.

Joe awoke in the dark, a fire lighting the cave he was in. Just barely.

A voice spoke to him. "Wakey, wakey. Eggs and—" A punch entered Joe's left cheek.

Joe looked up at Chain as he waved to him.

"Good morning, sleepy-head." Chain smiled.

"You want to interrogate me?" Joe asked weakly.

"More like fill you in on your current situation."

"So, first off. You fucked up pretty big if you haven't realized the gaping hole that was put in you." Chain pointed to a red spot on Joe's stomach. That was when he noticed he was tied up. He couldn't feel his arms or legs.

"You're friends returned from that little 'errand' you sent them on. Too bad they weren't there to see their daughter get sick with a little 'virus' that'll get her killed soon."

"This is the part where you tell me… what the virus is." Joe rasped out.

"I gave her a special little concoction that's gonna speed up her heart rate from all the little hops and jumps she does until it explodes. It'll be slow and painful. Kind of like watching you perform in life. You may have saved your friends, but they'll wish they were dead when their little baby falls to the ground."

"They know I'm missing. They'll find out what happened."

"I don't think so, Joey. See, they're more focused on something more important than you; anything else. I'm not even sure why you risked your life for them when they're not even trying to free you! I mean, they think their sick kid is more important than your life!" Chain smiled.

Joe looked back at him in silence.

"Don't worry. I know how it feels to have no one care about you. Treat it as a good thing! You can get a lot done when no one cares if you succeed!"

"I hate… how that… was relatable." Joe coughed, his face was pale.

"See! Maybe we can be pals until that bullet wound kills you!" Chain nodded. "I know what you're waiting for. You're friends aren't going to come for you. They won't survive. Not even with those dipshits you call 'security forces'. One guy isn't worth an all-out war. They know _that_ much."

"Well, have fun! Die quickly!" Chain smiled as he opened a metal door and slammed it shut, leaving Joe in a small room with a fire next to him.

"Why do bad guys… always give you a chance to escape…" Joe rasped out to himself as he struggled on his binds. He swung his arms up and around and winced in pain as he leaned right on his gut wound. He breathed through his nose angrily and wiggled his body. He fell over to his side and landed on his injury. He muffled a scream and groaned on the ground, his face almost kissing the campfire providing his light. He inched closer to it, and lifted his arms up and held them over the flame. It pained him, so he arched himself up to protect his skin from the flame. He waited, cooking the rope that tied him up. His arms began to tire and succumb to fatigue. They dropped slowly, grazing the fire. Joe yelped and rolled away from it from sheer pain. He ventilated and crawled away from the flames. He no longer wanted to try that route. He couldn't take it. He felt the cooked rope and felt a small tear in them. He wiggled the rope for minutes, slowly removing the rope's strings one by one as sweat poured down his pale white face. He wheezed out and grit his teeth weakly as he held onto his goal. He tore the rope off his hands and fell onto his back, breathing quickly with a smile.

"So cliché." He told himself as he pulled himself up.

I opened the door to the sheriff's office in Megaton and looked around for Joe.

"Joe?" I called into the empty room. I heard muttering, so I walked slowly towards the center of the room. I looked down at a starving raider as he breathed heavily on the ground, handcuffed to a desk.

"Mac and cheese… please… jeez…Louise…"

I raised an eyebrow at the raider as I looked around.

"Where is he?" I asked him.

"Food. Water." He forced out.

I looked at him and grabbed a water bottle off Joe's desk and dumped it on his mouth. His mouth graciously accepted it until he coughed and choked on the water, waking himself up from his dehydrated sleep.

"You gonna tell me where Joe is, shit-nose?" I asked him.

"Baby cheeks is gone. You won't find him."

"I forgot I'm talking to a drugged-up psycho." I gave up. I sat in Joe's desk and decided to look around.

I investigated his latest work. Forms and treaties with other towns, signed by him and Vee. Atop the papers and dossier info was an empty envelope. I picked it up; it was yellowed with age and had nothing inside of it. I knew it was recently used, however, since it was freshly torn, exposing white fibers underneath the dust that settled on top of it. It wasn't of any use to me. I placed it back down on his desk and stood up from his seat. I slipped on the floor and caught myself on the desk, making Giggles mutter to himself. I looked down at my feet and saw loosely placed .308 rounds. I knew for a fact that Joe doesn't shoot .308 rounds. He used an assault rifle for his sheriff duties, for crowd control. No, these bullets were large and powerful. Whatever he was doing, he wanted to make sure they were dead. But even loose bullets couldn't bring me to Joe. I looked back down at Giggles.

"Last chance, pal. Let me know where the sheriff went."

"There never were enough batteries for that light…" He muttered, breaking out into a hoarse laugh.

"Cool. Good talk." I nodded as I exited the office.

I walked to the front gates and looked up at the sniper guard. "Hey, yo!" I shouted to him.

"Have you seen the sheriff?" I asked him.

"Not since yesterday. He left sometime around three. Hasn't come back yet." The sniper called down to me.

"Thanks." I called back up to him, turning away and sighing.

I walked back home to Vee and Sarah and closed the door behind me.

"Hi, daddy." Sarah told me after Vee gave her a gentle push.

"Hi, cutie. What? No hug?" I asked with a smile.

She hid behind her mother's leg in shyness. I looked up at Vee, and then there were no smiles.

"Joe's missing." I explained to her.

"Maybe he's playing hide-and-seek." Sarah put forth.

"Good thought, Sarah, but Joe doesn't do that anymore." I said gently.

"Yes he does! Mommy said he's a kid like me. And I play hide-and-seek!"

I looked at Vee with passive anger and decided not to argue.

"He left town the same time as us yesterday and hasn't come back." I explained.

"Did you check his office?"

I nodded at her.

"You still have that letter he gave to us?" I asked.

"Yes. It's upstairs."

"I'll get it!" Sarah smiled as she trotted up the stairs, slowing down and falling halfway up the stairs. Vee rushed over to her and lifted her up. She smiled.

"Wow, someone looks a little out of breath. Let's go take a nap, okay, honey?" Vee asked her daughter as she lifted her up. Sarah nodded as she breathed heavily out of her mouth. Victoria took her upstairs and I followed them until I turned into our bedroom. I grabbed the letter and opened it up.

_"I'm sorry I didn't have it in me. I tried._

-Joe"

I didn't know what he meant, but right now, things weren't looking good for Joe. I put the letter away and walked quickly down stairs where Victoria was sitting at the table.

"Vee, I think there's somethi—"

I stopped talking when I noticed she wasn't looking at me. She held a glass of wine in her hand. Her power fist was on the table. Her face was somber, but her body looked tense. I dropped my hands to my sides and my heart sank.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, playing dumb.

"Things just aren't the way I pictured them." She said, looking at the ground as she took a sip of wine.

"They never are, Vee."

"I know they can be different though. You and I don't have to live like this. Whatever it is we're doing."

I sat down at the table next to her and grabbed her wrists gently, looking up at her.

"We're doing what's right. What we wanted."

"This isn't what I wanted, Jace." She told me, her eyes were red. "I can't play mayor for the rest of my life. I don't feel like I'm doing anything with myself. And then I just come home here and I see you and you look the same way; empty. We can't suck it up because we think it's the right thing to do, that's not how we should live."

"We have a daughter, Vee." I choked up.

"And we've proven to each other that we can raise her. I'm not saying we should stop. I'm just saying we should just stop doing it _together_."

My heart skipped a beat.

"I can't believe this." I said in a whisper as I sat back in my chair and breathed in painfully.

"We deserve more, Jace." She said to me with no emotion.

"What the hell have we done to deserve more?!" I yelled as I got up. Vee looked back down at the ground in melancholy.

"Don't be like this."

"Don't be like what?! _Human_?! That's what we are! We can't strive to do more until we—we kill ourselves! We've done so much and now you want _more _from this?! What the fuck is the matter with your brain?!" I shouted as I threw my chair to the side.

"I just can't do this…"

"Oh! You 'just can't do this'?! Where the hell was that when you got hurt, huh?! Where the hell was that when we were in the vault and I had to bury my father?! WHERE WAS THIS WHEN WE HAD SARAH?!"

"It's not about you." She sobbed woefully as she glanced up at me for a second.

"Oh, I forgot, Victoria! It's about _both _of us! It's about how I tried so hard to make this work, and you don't even respond! It's about how we've bled for this town and you just want to leave because you don't feel like a kid anymore! Grow up! Grow the FUCK UP! You're not any different than Joe!"

I turned away from her and opened the front door, slamming it shut behind me. I stormed off until I noticed a crying woman standing in front of our house, looking at me. It was Natalie.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" She sobbed at me. I looked at her in questioning anger.

"He… he…" She tried to make more words, but broke down.

"Natalie…" I exhaled.

"You need to tell me where Joe is."

Joe crawled up to his feet in pain, forcing himself quickly to his feet. He lost his balance halfway through and ran forward into the metal door, falling down and groaning loudly. He held his wound as it seeped red. Joe wiped sweat from his forehead and pushed his red bandana off his head. He grabbed it loosely in his hand and applied it to the wound as he inhaled through closed teeth. He slowly dragged himself to his feet, and opened the rusted cell door. He crept as much as a dying man could through the dimly lit raider camp. He noticed these small cells where everywhere, with people being tortured and killed just like him. He tried to control his heavy breathing as he got to look athis surroundings. He limped as he held his right hand to his wound, using his free left hand to keep him from falling down. He leaned on the cell walls with everyone inside. He walked slower and slower as voices became easier and louder to hear. He got down and walked as much as he could bring himself until he saw the raiders. Dozens of them holed up in this cave with their intricate makeshift armors and weapons. Talking, drinking and eating were they as slaves died off around them. Joe breathed quickly as the blood left his face and exited onto his bandana below him. He looked down at the ground and exhaled in duress. There wasn't much he could do. There wasn't any way he was leaving alive.

Never before has reality slapped anyone. Once cocky and full of laughter, Joe was at the other extreme. He slumped against a dark corner and shook his head. There wasn't a plan or a friend there for him. He was alone, outnumbered, outmatched and on his deathbed. The only thing he had in him was heart: A stupid thing that got him into this mess to begin with. The thing that made him decide a child's life over her parents. A strong thing that would help him climb to his feet and realize there was only one end goal for him, and that was to save that little girl; because that little girl was the only thing that he ever cared about. She was the future of him and the friends who abandoned Joe there to die. The girl was the only thing left that symbolized hope, and he was responsible for killing her. There wasn't anything stopping him from righting that wrong, not death, not life as a slave, not even the death of her parents. Sarah's the only thing that mattered to him, she was the only reason he put his bandana away and limped to the center of the raiders, and pointed directly at the leader. She's the reason why he challenged the infamous bandit. And she's the reason why he was going to make sure that man died there.

Chain lifted up his pole weapon with the dumbbell at the end and swung it at Joe as Joe sprinted at him, screaming out a battle cry as the raiders around them cheered. He tackled Chain to the ground as the weapon swung above him. Joe ripped his helmet off of him and exposed black hair with gray streaks throughout and punched down as hard as his body could allow. No hesitation, no smart-ass remark, just rage and a fight to the death. And that's exactly what was going to happen between them.

"Natalie… _where is he_?" I asked her inside our house. She looked at Vee as she sat in her chair, her hair matted and a glass of wine next to her. Victoria's nose was red, her eyes half open. Natalie knew she was crying.

"Am I interrupting something?" Nat asked us.

"Please answer the question."

"That raider made him give you guys up. He was going to kill me and your daughter if he didn't. That's why he asked you to deliver that letter yesterday, right?" Natalie asked.

"There wasn't anyone there. He sent us halfway to Springvale for nothing."

"The meeting spot wasn't in Springvale…" Natalie seemed confused.

We thought for a moment, and figured out what Joe's 'plan' was.

"Did he… give himself up?" Vee asked us, looking up worriedly at me.

"He showed up without you guys…" Natalie decided.

"Where's the meeting point?" I asked her quickly.

"Near that Nuka-Cola machine north of here."

"Take this." I told her as I grave her my revolver. "Protect our daughter."

"Jace…" Vee eased me.

"We have to go now, he could be hurt!" I argued.

Victoria looked at me.

"He's our friend, Victoria." She looked into my eyes and then looked down. She inhaled and jumped up, grabbing her power fist and pumping it.

"If anyone comes into this house other than us, you shoot first and ask questions later. Got it?" Vee asked her as she gathered up her bag of supplies atop the fridge.

"Okay. Please hurry." Natalie told us as we ran from the house.

Joe punched down at Chain's face until the muscular man grabbed his attacker's arm and threw him off his body. Joe fell back, knocking himself into a table as Chain swung a forceful hook at Joe, sending his neck to the side and knocking him down to the ground. Chain front kicked the man like a wounded animal and set him up against the wooden table where loose food was spread. The raiders cheered as Chain bashed Joe's jaw against the table once, twice, and splitting the wood the third time. Joe grabbed onto Chain's wrists, but he was much stronger and durable than him. Chain lifted the smaller man up and threw him into the ground a few feet away. Joe coughed on the ground, his jaw was cracked, his face was swelling. He breathed quickly, wheezing on the ground as Chain walked over to him. Joe held his face in pain and crawled away from Chain as he and the raiders laughed. Joe spotted Chain's weapon that he left on the ground a few feet away from him. He crawled towards it, his fingertips grazing it as Chain grabbed him by his duster and pulled him back away from it the way an owner held back a rabid dog on a collar. Chain grabbed Joe from his knees and put him in a headlock, choking him. Joe's face turned red as his windpipe was cut off from oxygen. Joe tried to wretch himself free as he scratched at the man's arms. Chain bit down hard as Joe breathed out airless coughs. His pale white face turned red and then purple, and then white again. Joe felt up Chain's arm weakly, stopping at his mini chainsaw attached to his armor. Joe pulled the Ripper from his armor and turned it on, buzzing the jagged chains up and sending it back into Chain's arm, tearing away at flesh. Chain released Joe from his chokehold and screamed out a booming, grizzled yell as Joe took in air. He quickly got back to his feet and swung the Ripper down at Chain's head. Chain stood up with a flying uppercut and took Joe by surprise. Joe flew up and back onto the ground, landing harshly on his lungs and kicking up dust. His Ripper was off to the side as Chain picked it up and breathed in.

Chain shouted out a battle cry as he brought the chainsaw down at Joe's chest. Joe's fingers grasped Chain's makeshift blunt weapon that was still on the ground to his side and swung it around at the Ripper as it came towards him. It smacked against Chain's wrist bone with a metallic crack, sending the Ripper flying away and breaking Chain's wrist on impact. Chain screamed out as Joe got to his feet and swung the dumbbell at his face and took him to the ground. Joe lifted the hammer up into the air with both hands and brought it down at Chain's head with all his force. Joe was tackled to the ground before he could complete his final blow. He was taken down by a loyal raider; a man with a red cross on his hat. Joe elbowed the man off him and kicked him away, noticing his medicine bag on him along with several different and poisonous chemical mixtures. Joe grabbed the bag off the man and swung it onto his own, holding the hammer in one hand as he bent down and grabbed the Ripper in the other. The raiders then converged on Joe as his lungs breathed out their final breaths of air, desperately trying to keep himself from falling down and dying. He had one image in his mind, and that was home. Home to a few close friends and a little girl. Joe inhaled and bellowed as he swung both weapons at the horde.

Vee and I approached the meeting spot with the security forces following us. I ordered them to search the area. We then fanned out and looked for any clues as to where Joe went. We found an empty .308 casing, a cigarette, and a blood stain that was smeared away from the area. We looked to where it led and ran towards the destination.

Joe swung the hammer at a raider as he brought a knife down to Joe. Joe's attack cracked against the raider's head and instantaneously broke his neck. Joe was grabbed from behind and tore the Ripper into the flesh of his grappler, making him scream in pain until Joe tore up something vital and killed him. Joe screamed as he walked forward and swung the hammer down at a raider and slashed the Ripper across their neck. Blood popped out a few feet into the air and rested on Joe's duster as he ran forward and pushed a raider weakly away from him as bullets were fired at him. They hit the raider as Joe brought the two attacks closer together. Realizing he accidentally shot a friend, the raider couldn't notice that Joe jabbed the Ripper into his stomach until they both stopped screaming. As bullets echoed in the cave, Joe limped away from the battle, fighting off the raiders until he could see the light of day. Joe slashed the Ripper forward as a raider fired a pistol at him. It pierced through Joe's hand and made him shout and drop the chainsaw. He dropped his hurt hand to the side as he backed to the exit. He swung the hammer at the raider's arm and smacked the gun away from him. Joe spun around in a circle and added momentum to his forceful hammer blow, cracking the skull and cutting the raider's brain as he sent the dumbbell crashing into him. Joe felt sunlight on his cold body and turned away from the raiders. He ran as fast as he could, which wasn't as fast as you may think. He heard a familiar voice screaming as a tall, muscular, lumbering man with blood on him held up another raider's pistol and fired at Joe when he left the cave. Joe spotted spotted Vee and I with the troops and he thought it was a dream.

The first round hit him in the shoulder, the next in his upper arm, and the next right through his duster and into the side of his chest. His eyes popped with the reality of the bullets that pierced him, and he dropped to the ground in front of us as Vee and I looked at Joe. As he fell to the ground, he exposed us to his shooter that stood behind him a few meters away. He and I looked at each other as he held the smoking pistol. In almost slow-motion, I remembered everything about that man; our history and beyond. I almost didn't realize his next shot was fired directly at me. Vee pulled me away and saved my life as the bullet whizzed past me.

The security forces opened fire on the raiders, popping off various shots at them as I was held down in a firefight. Joe was motionless on the ground, bleeding into a small puddle around him. I looked at Joe, then at Chain as the bullets popped off his extravagant armor. He fired his pistol at us, taking down a few security forces as he smiled ostentatiously in his success. When his raiders began to lessen around him, they began to retreat. That was when Joe breathed in and spotted Chain. He wheezed out some blood from his white, dead face and lifted up his arm at him, trying the catch the elusive man as he ran away. Vee and I ran over to him as the field medic turned Joe onto to his back.

We looked at our friend as he lay on his back, his eyes glassy and his body ice cold. He breathed heavily, popping up his chest to breathe ever so often as the medic checked him.

"Oh my God…" Victoria sobbed as she looked at him. Joe twitched on the ground, trying his hardest to scream his head off from the pain he was experiencing. He only lay there, looking up at the sky as the holes in him bled onto his best friends' hands. He wanted to say he did this for them, but he couldn't bring out any words, or move at all.

We were looking at a dead man, and we knew it. Vee held Joe's hair back and cried onto him as the field medic set up a transfusion.

"He's lost alotta blood." The medic said to us over the ending firefight.

"I'm O-, use me." Vee told him as he hooked her up to him.

Joe's arms twitched towards the man lying next to him. The medic cut off Joe's duster and set it along with his badge to the side. Red holes sucked all the life out of his body and they were all over him. Victoria's blood was sent into Joe as his eyes looked towards the medical bag. He wasn't smiling. Somehow I thought he would. His face was dead of any expression.

"S—S" Joe said weakly, his eyes to useless to him to point out anything for us.

"What is it, Joe?" Vee sobbed at him as he coughed loudly and choked on the ground, gasping for air.

"Si…Sick…" His fingers twitched as they rested upon the antidote to Sarah.

He had a few moments to explain what happened to Sarah and how to fix it, but he was losing time.

"Sick? You're sick?" I asked him.

"S…Sa…Sar…"

"Sarah's sick?" I asked him.

"Huh." Joe tried to nod his head, but he winced in pain and looked up at the sky.

I opened up the bag and poured out bottles of weird concoctions, one of them being the antidote to Sarah.

"Hea…Sar…sic…"

Joe inhaled deeply and choked loudly on the ground as the medic tended to his wounds. Joe's eyes flickered and his body fell still.

"Joe?" I asked him as Vee shook her head.

The medic checked his pulse and began CPR.

"Oh God… Oh God, please…" Victoria shook her head as Joe's cold, pallid body pulsed between compressions. Tears streamed down her face like waterfalls.

With the AED charged up, the medic applied it to Joe's chest and administered shock. Joe's body pulsed and he awoke again, coughing, as if nothing happened, like the last minute of heart failure didn't even happen to him. He turned his head to us.

"Li… listen to me." Joe said as he breathed in.

"You… need… to take care of her." Joe pleaded.

"Make sure… she doesn't end up like us…"

We looked down at him and then at each other.

"She's the greatest thing you two created… don't let him do this to her…" Joe said in almost a whisper.

"She… needs… you guys…" Joe explained in his incapacitation, choosing the one thing to be serious about in his life.

"Just don't talk, Joe. You're gonna be okay, buddy." I told him as I choked up.

"I tried… to do what you would do…"

"You did more than that, Joe. I can't thank you enough for this. You saved our daughter." I told him as Vee held his forehead and eased him.

Joe looked into my eyes and I stared worriedly back. I tried to look happy to see his face. "I'm glad… I didn't…" Joe breathed in and hard. He winced and shouted out in pain as a bullet was pulled out of him. He tried his sentence again.

"I'm glad… I didn't shoot you in the ass." Joe tried to smile at me. And I tried not to look sad as I smiled heartedly back.

"I'm glad you married her…" He continued.

"Come here…" Joe told me as he called me over. I bent down as he whispered in my ear.

"She… may not look like it… but she likes you."

I didn't have to heart to tell him he was wrong.

Vee heard his loud and clogged whisper. She wiped a tear from her eye and looked over to the firefight as dead security forces and raiders blanketed the ground. The raiders were pushed back; little did we know that Chain was still alive and running faster than anyone else away.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: With What's Happened**

We took him back to Megaton to heal as the doctors checked Sarah and made sure her heart was rested as we gave her the medicine. Her BPM calmed down eventually and she was okay the next few days. We decided it wasn't worth it to chase Chain. When everything calmed down, I decided we would. That wasn't the only thing we would hold off for now. Victoria decided after hearing Joe's deathbed speech that she was to stay and take care of Sarah, at least until we were done raising her. "Things are gonna be hard." She told me. "But I'm going to do my best to do what's right for her."

This wasn't a victory, not by a long shot. By the next week, everything that happened at the cave was known in town. Chain's name was big again, and he was feared. My daughter almost died along with my best friend. My town is scared and so was I. I couldn't live like that. I couldn't listen to what Joe said on his deathbed and ignore it. Chain wasn't going to force my child to live in fear any more. I wasn't a 16 year old boy anymore. I was an adult, and I had to make adult choices, just like Joe had to, just like we all will have to do again later on.

I was going to have to kill that raider. There wasn't any going around it. I visited my friend in the hospital every day as he lay on a bed, unconscious with needles sticking into him. Joe hated needles. Victoria couldn't face Joe after what she said about him. I left her alone until one morning; Joe awoke from his drug induced coma. It took him a day to get his senses back. That was when I visited him.

"Hey, Joe." I smiled warmly at him as his eyes glazed over me.

He punched my arm.

"I'm sorry. I thought I saw an ugly monster. Must've been the drugs they've given me. Y'know, because I've been shot. A lot."

He punched me again. "The drugs wore off, you're totally a real-life ugly monster."

I shrugged "Three out of five joke, Joe."

"Give me a break; I haven't been conscious for, like, five years."

"Sure, five years."

Joe lifted himself up.

"Can you stand?" I asked him.

"I can try. And maybe then we can go for a jog with all the stitches and IV's plugged into me. It'll be really romantic." He said sarcastically as he stood up.

"Listen…" I said in a serious tone.

"Don't." Joe swatted away the serious conversation.

"No. You did something that Vee and I couldn't ever find the courage to do. I'm not sure I would even have the balls to do what you did."

"I haven't seen her yet…" Joe told me. I looked at the floor, and then up at him to explain everything.

"Listen, she and I have been…"

"What is it?" Joe asked me as I tried to gather the courage to tell him about our marital problems.

The door opened behind us. We looked back to see Victoria standing there, looking at us. She looked at Joe with a warm smile and tears fell from her eyes. She ran up to her friend and hugged him as hard as she could.

"Thank you, Joe." She said through her tears.

"You would've have done the same for me, Vee." He told her as he hugged her back.

"No…" She said to him. "I wouldn't have." She told him. "You saved her life. What you did for us…" Vee sniffled. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

"You doubted me? _Now_ I'm offended."

"Alright…" Joe sniffled as the big guy choked up himself.

"You guys and Sarah mean a lot to me. I look up to you guys and I just… I just didn't know what to do."

"You outsmarted him, Joe." I told him.

"I didn't realize I did until he shot me."

"Well despite what everyone is saying, I'm calling that a victory, Joe. I'm glad you're okay, buddy."

"I'm glad you guys are too." Joe nodded.

Vee turned and looked at me and smiled lightly. We left Joe to rest.

A month passed after the "Battle of The Gun Shack", or what was better known as the cave where the raiders crafted their weapons and armor. Joe was mobile again, but not fit to be sheriff anymore. I took control of that department.

"How's my hat fit?" Joe asked me as I walked into his hospital room one morning.

"You've got a big head." I told him.

"Good thing that didn't get shot at." Joe said strongly, taking a deep breath afterward as he picked himself up. I helped carry him to his feet so he could lean on crutches.

"I bet your laughing everyday knowing how the tables turned." Joe told me through the pain in his body.

"I'm not going to be laughing right now, at least." I smiled at him.

"So you have any ideas for a deputy? You _did _think about that, right?"

"Not really. I've got a few ideas."

"Like who?"

"Well, there's this clueless kid from a vault who seems like the perfect fit for protecting a post-apocalyptic settlement." I referenced with a smile.

"You know, now that you said that out loud, that sounds like a fucking stupid plan that should never happen."

"How long do you think you're gonna be like this?" I asked him.

"Probably a few months."

"Shit, another few months of being sheriff, nice!" I smiled as I popped my hat up.

"Hey, is it okay if I start drinking heavily and date Natalie now?" I asked him.

Joe sighed and frowned.

"Sorry." I told him. "I take it she hasn't visited you?"

"No. Haven't heard from her."

"Maybe it's for the best, Joe. Your life's too crazy for her to join in on." I joked playfully.

"Yeah, I feel totally on the edge right now." He said tiredly on his crutches.

"It could always be worse, buddy. I'll see you later." I nodded as I walked away.

I walked into our house as Victoria sat on the couch and read to Sarah. "Daddy!" Sarah smiled as she ran up to me. I grabbed her and lifted her up for a hug. "Whoah, you're getting big." I grunted as I hugged her and put her down.

"Home so soon?" Victoria asked me.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Too late for a honeymoon, Jace." She told me as I sat down next to her.

"Do you want to be deputy?" I asked her.

She turned to me.

"What?" She asked.

"We could make it work. We could find you a replacement. I just thought being mayor must be boring by now."

"We need to find someone to take care of Sarah while we're gone."

"What about Walter?" I suggested.

Victoria shook her head. She hasn't trusted him since the incident with Sarah.

"Then who?" I asked.

We then decided telepathically, without using words. I got up and walked to the saloon, opening the door. There sat a woman by herself at the morning counter as a ghoul served her drinks.

"Hi, I'm Gob." The ghoul told me. "I'm new here and I would like to say—"

"Shut up. I don't like you for some reason." I swatted him away from me.

"Okay…" The zombie-man said as he cleaned a shot glass.

I sat down next to her as she drank tequila by herself.

"It's nine in the morning, Nat." I informed her.

"Go away." She told me.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked her.

"I don't want you people near me."

"That's fine. This isn't about me or Vee or even Joe. It's about our daughter."

"What do you want, Jace?" She asked sullenly.

"I want you to babysit her for us. Just keep her safe."

"You realize I'm getting drunk at nine in the morning and you want me to take care of your kid?" Natalie asked me, turning her head and looking at me.

"As weird as it sounds, Joe's the most fatherly towards Sarah, but now that's he's hurt, I have to get the next best thing. You're the only person who even remotely reminds me of him. You're perfect for the job."

"How do you let a drunk idiot with a smart ass demeanor become a better father than you?" She asked me.

I looked at her.

Natalie sipped her tequila shot and exhaled.

"We'll pay you." I added.

"I'll start tomorrow." Natalie decided.

"Now can you get up from that seat for a sec?" She asked as she looked behind the bar counter. I got up slowly and let another man sit down next to Natalie. He ordered a tequila shot and drank it. Without even skipping a beat the two turned towards each other and made out. Natalie's hands stroked his hair until they turned and pulled down on it. She slammed his face into the counter and knocked him out. He fell back off the stool and down to my feet. Natalie finished her shot and stood over him.

"He owed me money." Natalie explained as she dug into his pockets.

"You're perfect." I smiled and nodded at her.

I let Natalie into our house the next day and showed her around. I noticed under our bright lights in our house that Natalie had changed. Her face was no longer naturally happy looking. Her hair wasn't perfectly straight anymore. It had waves and circles and split ends everywhere. Her eyes seemed as if she was asleep for the past year.

"Are you sure about this?" Vee asked me.

"It's either that, or stamp papers for the rest of your life."

Vee thought about it for a second.

"Yup, let's go." She told me as we walked up to Sarah as she played with pre-war dolls.

"Why'd you let Joe give her Barbies for her birthday?" I asked Vee.

"They seemed like a nice present."

I shook my head. "Hey Sarah…" I bent down to her. "Do you remember Natalie?"

She nodded her head and looked up at the hung-over woman as she burped and held her mouth shut.

"Oh my God, this is such a bad idea." Vee muttered to herself.

"Well, honey, she's gonna watch over you while mommy and daddy go to their work. Do you understand why we're doing this?"

Sarah looked at me and nodded. She hugged me as if this were the last time we were seeing each other. "We'll see you tonight, honey. It's not forever." Vee told her daughter as she pulled back her black hair and set it into place.

"You've got soft hair." Vee smiled at her.

"Thank you." Sarah smiled her white teeth at her as she played with her hair.

"Goodbye, honey." Vee kissed her on the forehead and we left.

Natalie stood awkwardly with Sarah alone in the house in silence. "So…"

"You drink yet?" She asked the toddler.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Project Legacy**

I walked down the stairs with Vee and dug my hands into my pockets. "Hey, I've got something for you."

"What is it?" She asked me.

I pulled out my old deputy badge and gave it to her. "Thanks" she said without a smile as she took my gift.

"I'm trying." I told her genuinely.

"I know." She nodded as she slapped my shoulder. "So what's the first order of business?"

"We've got to check on 101 to see if they're still keeping up with trade missions." I informed her.

"We're not tracking Chain?"

"Not yet. 101's on the way."

We packed on our Kevlar vests from the armory and left Megaton as fast as we could. Vee forgot the way to Vault 101, but I still had the path ingrained in my brain. I led her over to it, and we walked to the door.

"You remember the password?" Vee asked me.

"Of course I remember the password." I bluffed as I stared at the controls.

"Holy shit, you had us walk all the way over here and you don't even know the password?!" She argued.

"Well if you just let me think for a minute I can figure it out!"

"Do you even have a friggen use, Jace?!"

"Yeah, to keep you from making another poor guy suffer!"

The controls made a sound, and the intercom turned on. "Uh… we can hear you guys." The man at the other end of the radio told us. I sighed as Vee crossed her arms.

"Uh… hi."

"Yeah, we'll just open up for you, Jace."

The vault door screeched open as Vee and I walked inside. We walked past the security forces and went to Rachel's office. Rachel was sitting at her desk; she worked endlessly as it was. Like her father, she too fell victim to the vault's many needs and it changed her appearance. I realized what had happened long ago, but there wasn't much I could do.

"Hey, Rachel."

"Hey, Jace. Victoria."

"Hi." Vee nodded at her.

"Things look different around here. What's been going on?" I asked her politely.

"My father kept a small cache of tech secret from us and we just opened it last month: Had a bunch of wrist-mounted computers. 'Pip-Boys' we call them." She said as she typed away at the computer.

"Seems like he kept everything from us." She added.

"I just wanted to check in. See if you needed anything from town."

"Nothing. We don't need anything." She said very cut-and-dry.

"Are you… okay?" Victoria asked her.

Rachel sighed. "My son's been hounding me lately. He wants to replace his Pip-Boy and I just don't have the time for it. But thanks for being concerned." She smiled afterwards.

"Okay." I nodded.

"And Jace…"

"We fixed James' grave for you. The sign was bent so it might seem like someone played with it, but everything's fine." Rachel smiled as she typed away at the computer.

"Uh… Rachel?" I asked her.

"Yeah?"

"No one's ever called my father 'James' before, it was always Jim… are you sure you're okay? We can help you out, you know."

"Wow… I'm sorry, Jace. I dunno where my head's been at lately."

"Mother problems." Vee smiled at her.

"Yeah." Rachel smiled in their mutual situations.

"Alright, well thanks for looking out for my dad. Let us know if you need some help. You could use a break, Rachel." I offered.

"Thanks for the concern guys. I'll see you next month." Rachel sent us off, and with that, we were gone.

As the doors shut closed, she let out a huge sigh and moved her computer to the side and swiped her finger on the hidden scanner. It pulled up the holographic signs and Rachel's hands moved through the "Welcome, Amata Almodavar!" sign. She swiped through it like it was her job, and then brought up another screen on the terminals. She looked through the "Project Legacy" dossiers, stopping at Generation 42. She read the text.

"Childhood bully attributes: Female (Neg), Male(Pos), Gang affiliation(Neg), Personal attacks(Pos), Alcoholic(Pos), Secret Love(Pos), Family Issues(Pos), Possible Names: Damien, Luke, Hank, Phil, Butch—CORRUPTED-, Chip(Pos), Darren, Harry…"

She scrolled passed the information and stopped at another piece of information.

"Parental Attributes: Living Mother(Neg), Living Father(Pos), Alcoholics(Neg), Abusive(Pos), Controlling(Pos), Overseer(Pos)…"

She scrolled down again and read every word she could.

"Childhood Friend Attributes: Female(Neg), Male(Pos) -CORRUPTED—Possible Names: Dylan, Rachel—CORRUPTED- Sarah, Jace, Amata—CORRUPTED—(Neg)"

She didn't know what she was reading. She tried her hardest to make sense of this, but it just couldn't force its way into her brain. It was only to be contemplated in someone else's. Someone else's brain could understand.

"Current Legacy Bloodline: CORRUPTED—RACHE—CORRUPTED- Jace Marston. Manual Restart Required yes/no"

She typed "yes", and the office whirred. Rachel backed away from her desk as it moved up to the ceiling and led her down into a secret room. She looked around as the walls around her whirred and turned. Rachel spotted pods of people suspended in them. She looked around, as was regular for her by now as acting Overseer. Familiar faces of people surrounded her. She looked and spotted Chip in the pod. She looked down and saw electronic labeling. "Childhood bully".

She passed another familiar face, her father "Overseer". Rachel saw my father in a pod and looked at him. "Parent 1". And a woman next to her, "Parent 2". She then stopped at herself. An exact clone of her stood in a pod, waiting to be opened to the world. She looked down at it "Childhood fr—CORRUPTED—CURRENT LEGACY BLOODLINE—CORRUPTED, MANUAL RESTART REQUIRED."

She went to a terminal in the corner and typed away at it at until she reached the manual restart code. She typed it in and hit "Enter". The pods whirred and the people inside them dissipated painfully as the electronic signs changed all around. Rachel breathed in and looked back at the pods that were almost empty now.

"Childhood Friend. Info: Name- Amata Almodavar. Female. Race: Hispanic."

She walked over to another pod and noticed a small fetus floating in it. "Childhood Bully. Info: Name- Butch DeLoria, Race: Caucasian"

She then walked over to the center of the room, where a lone pod stood with a growing fetus inside of it. "Current Legacy Bloodline" was the title. She felt her head and her nose as it began to bleed. She instantly became confused, leaned against the computer for a moment as her brain made sense of everything. The names of people clouded her as she read off the introductory screen for the terminal.

"Welcome to Project Legacy, Vault Technician! In Vault 101, YOU have been chosen to custom build a legacy of people with deep and specific backgrounds to help propel them into any situation! Modern studies have shown that emotional stimulation can lead to extreme performance in life! Create the world's greatest fighter trying to avenge his loved ones and show his peers that the can accomplish something! Mend the world with the passive man or woman with a varied history with people and past bully experiences! You decide the outcomes of this person's future with our state-of-the-art cloning technologies! Warning! Do not procreate with clones, problems may occur. Create your lone hero today! Happy testing!"

Rachel looked at it and breathed in through her nose. She walked out of the pressured chamber and went back to her desk as if nothing had happened. She went back and started filling information out for the Current Legacy Bloodline.

I stopped outside the vault with Vee and became light-headed. I fell to my hands and knees as Vee stood and looked at the view of the D.C. ruins. She turned around to see me on the ground.

"Jace!" She yelled as she ran to me. I mumbled to myself as blood ran from my nose. I blinked as much as I could but everything I could see was black. Her voice became more and more faint until it was gone completely.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Counseling**

I got up and looked around quickly; ready to fight any looters who would try to take what was mine. I ran forward and stopped as I spotted a woman. I recognized her.

"Where am I?" I asked her.

"Your blood is important." She told me.

"Answer me!" I shouted and it echoed in the blurry room.

"You are the answer. Keep her safe." She told me.

"Who are you?!" I shouted in rage.

She smiled at me for a moment.

"Happy testing." She said as I opened my eyes to Vee's face.

She gasped as I held her by the throat.

I let go and fell onto my back as I felt drying blood on my nose.

"What the hell happened to you?" She asked me as she backed away from me.

I looked at her. "What?" I asked her. I felt my head, trying to massage my brain. "Who… who are you?" I asked her.

"Jace… it's me. It's Victoria."

"Get away from me!" I shouted as I threw dirt in her face.

Vee back away and coughed. "Fuck—ing dou-ouchebag." She coughed on the dirt as I crawled away as fast as I could. I got up and ran quickly away until Vee chased after me. "Holy shit, Jace! We don't have time for this!"

"Get away from me!" I screamed for my life.

"Amata! Dad!" I screamed in the wilderness as Vee sprinted after me. She grabbed my shoulder and stopped us both. She turned me around, coughing and breathing quickly. I stared at her with my eyebrow up.

"What is it, Vee?" I asked her as I looked around.

"What… the fuck… dude…" She coughed.

"Why the hell are you out of breath? You haven't gotten out of shape _that_ much, have you?"

"Eat… shit." She spat out.

"Still as beautiful as the day I met you. Now let's go and track Chain. If your lungs can handle that."

Vee shook her head as her face tried to make sense of what just happened.

I wiped my face of my blood and looked at it in confusion. I then spread it on my pants as we walked.

"Seriously, I think you just had a stroke or something back there." Victoria explained to me as we returned to the Gun Shack.

"I literally have no idea what you're talking about. I'm fine now, so let's just pay attention to what we're here to do."

"You see?" She asked with her hands on her hips.

"What?" I asked, ready for an argument.

"You never listen to me, even if it's going to get you killed! You're an idiot, you're not some super solider made in a lab, you're just one person!"

"Are we seriously doing this now? Fine! I know what I can handle, I don't need you holding my hand through it, I'm an adult!" I yelled back.

"Then act like one!"

"What the hell does that even mean?! Am I not sitting here with a gun in my hand? I'm doing that because I'm not a five year old!" I shouted.

"Oh, fuck you Jace! You know exactly what I meant; stop trying to make me look like an idiot!"

"I don't need complex wordplay for that, Vee, you handle yourself pretty well!"

"I'm gonna punch your arrogant mouth right off your goddamn face if you keep talking!" Vee threatened.

"Not like I haven't taken a punch before, Victoria! That tends to happen to me a lot ever since I met you!"

"Then why'd you marry into that life if you didn't want it?!"

I pulled my gun out and fired a round. It whizzed past her head and hit a raider sneaking up behind her. He dropped to the floor as we sat in silence. I walked over to him and we stood next to each other.

"Oh my God… I almost died." Vee gasped as she looked at him.

"Yeah…" I said as I holstered my gun.

I turned over to her and looked at her face for a moment. She looked back at me. I ran my face into hers and forced a kiss on her. She accepted with a smile.

"Jace… I don't really think…"

"Oh my God, just shut up for one second."

"One second's all you need?" She asked me as we kissed.

"You're gonna ruin it, asshole." I told her as we kissed passionately.

When we were done with our fun in the plains we re-attached our badges and holsters and looked around. I spotted empty shells covered in dirt and sand.

"The firefight I think kept on this way." I said as I pointed in a direction.

"Nuh-uh, it's this way." Vee said as she pointed further off to the right.

"Well you're not experienced in this as I am."

"I've been working for law longer than you've been in the Wasteland, Jace."

"Well that was then. And I say it's _this_ way."

"Jace, I'm telling you it's _this_ way. Just listen to me for once."

"Are you saying that I don't listen to you?" I asked her angrily.

"Well you're not listening to me now!"

"Because you're wrong, Victoria! He went _this_ way! The bullet casings show it, use your eyes, holy crap!"

"Oh, now I'm blind?"

"As opposed to... stupid? Yeah, I guess that's an improvement!"

Vee turned around and followed the direction that she thought was right. I shook my head and followed the bullets forward, waiting for her to realize she was wrong. I spotted more and spent the next hour following them until I hit a wall… literally.

A sewage grate was hanging off the wall and lead into the D.C. ruins. I spotted more casings. Someone shot off the grate to get into it. I stepped inside and looked around the sewage area. Toxic filth surrounded the pipes as radiation clearly held dominance here. I backed away and shook my head as I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to Victoria walking over to me.

"You figured out you were wrong?" I asked her.

She walked up to me and slapped me across the face.

"Ow! What the shit?!" I yelled as I held my face.

Victoria knocked me into the wall and pinned me against it. She looked at my eyes and kissed me.

"Wha—what?" I asked between smooches.

"Shouldn't question it." I told myself as we continued.

After we were done venting, we took a look at the sewage grate. We weren't going to get in there without some tech. So we decided to go back to Megaton to meet Sarah for dinner. We stayed silent for the trek home, not wanting to set off our short fuses with our fiery breaths. We opened the front door to see Natalie sitting next to Sarah in the most awkward and uncomfortable way possible.

"I ran out of things to do five hours ago." She told us as they sat in silence.

"I take it everything went well?" Vee asked her as she put her weapons in a bag on the fridge.

"Yeah, she got hurt when I wasn't looking and her head hurts. I suggest ice it, but I don't really know how ice works."

"God, it's like talking to a Joe with a vagina." Vee muttered.

"A what?" Sarah asked.

"It's a type of beef." Vee said quickly.

"Ew." I muttered at the comparison.

"Good save and I'll be going now." Natalie said as she bumped into me on purpose.

"Oof, I am veerrry sorry, good sir." Natalie said in the weirdest tone of voice.

I sighed and gave her money.

"See ya." She said in her normal tone of voice as she closed the front door behind her and walked away.

She counted the money and whistled until she stopped dead in her tracks. She spotted a brown haired man in a white t-shirt and black sweatpants crutching over to her. His beard was shaved clean off his face. They stopped and looked at each other.

"Hi…" Joe told her.

"Hi…" She said back.

"You look… uh…great." He told her with a warm smile.

"I look like I haven't brushed my hair in months. I feel like I haven't slept in longer."

"I know that feeling." Joe nodded at her.

They stood in silence and looked at each other.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out the way I wanted them to." He told her.

"We broke up six times and you almost got me killed by a raider."

"I obviously didn't want that to happen; neither one of them."

"Well it did, so…" Natalie turned around and walked away.

"Natalie, wait!" Joe called after her as he crutched up the hill, grunting in pain as he tried to chase after her.

She turned around quickly. "Joe, it didn't work out, face it, okay?"

"Don't you at least want to try?"

"I did. Six times. We're not compatible people. I can't stand next to a guy who gets shot at every day. One of those days, those bullets are going to hit me."

"I promise you that won't happen."

"You know you can't do that." She shook her head and turned away.

Joe knew she was right. He knew a lot of things, I've learned, more than he let on. He knew he couldn't provide what she wanted, but more importantly, he knew he wanted her with him. He knew he was going to try his hardest if she gave him the chance, because he's seen what he's capable of if he puts his mind to it. Joe wasn't a mindless idiot, if only I could have figured that out sooner. He had figured out that he can do more than he even thought was possible. He was ready to try; he was ready to do something I never expected.

"Natalie…" Joe called after her as he crutched painfully after her.

"Just go back to the hospital; please don't get yourself hurt for me."

"I… already did." Joe groaned as he crutched forward.

"Goodnight, Joe." Natalie said sadly to the wounded man.

Joe grunted loudly in pain as he crutched closer to her. His arms gave up and the crutches slipped out from under him. He groaned as he collapsed to his hands and knees, holding his stomach in pain.

"Joe!" Natalie walked closer to help him up.

Joe released his hands from his stomach and put his front knee forward, holding out a ring to her, standing perfectly on one knee, as if he was never hurt at all.

Natalie shook her head. "What the hell is this Joe?"

Joe licked his lips and stared at the ring, realizing what he was about to do. His heart raced more than it already was after the accident.

"You…" Joe tried to think of words to say.

"You… say you don't want me to get hurt for you, Natalie…" He breathed in. "But the truth is I would rather get hurt every single day for the rest of my life if it means you'll be there next to me at the end of the day." He said to her in silence on one knee.

Natalie breathed in hard and shook her head, wiping a tear from her eye.

"You can't do this, dammit." She told him quietly.

"There's a lot of people telling me I can't do things recently. I stopped listening to them."

Natalie looked back at him and fought tears.

"Listen… I know there are going to be a lot of guys who want to do this for you, I mean, look at you... All I'm asking is that you put my name down on the list… that's all."

Natalie looked down at him and shook her head.

"Shut up, you idiot." She told him as she bent down and kissed him.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20: Dumbstruck**

I walked to the hospital that night and found Joe in his bed with Natalie, talking to each other and laughing. I opened the door slowly and shouted in disgust.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked them.

"Finished thirty minutes ago." Natalie informed me.

"Gross information." I nodded at her.

"So you guys are back together?" I asked them.

"Better." Natalie smiled as she showed off her ring.

"You should expect more from me!" Joe flexed his arm in celebration as he lifted up a shot glass and drank from it.

"Should you really be drinking in your condition?" I asked him.

"Shut up, nerd." Joe muttered. Natalie laughed.

"Well I'm just going to let you know what's been going on so you're in the loop." I started.

"Shoot, home-slice." Joe said as he pressed his nose into Natalie's face.

"I tracked Chain and his men to the D.C. ruins, but the problem is they went through a sewage pipe with radiation in it."

"Cool. Easy fix. Kids are playing with this new-medicine, 'Rad-Begone'? I dunno, but it gets rid of radiation. It's awesome."

"Well that'll help for the five seconds I'm protected with it. What am I gonna do if it's constant radiation throughout? Take the medicine every second I'm in there?"

"No, stupid. Get a suit. We've got them at the armory. But we have to order the medicine."

"I didn't know that."

"Get schooled!" Joe threw up a peace sign at me as Natalie lay atop of him.

"Argh, YOU'RE ON A WOUND!" Joe screamed, pushing Natalie off of him.

He yelped and held his body in pain. Natalie lay off the bed, holding her leg.

I stared at them with my mouth open. "Yeah, so anyways, I've got an idea…"

"What?" Joe asked through closed teeth.

"Since you're here and you can't really kill any raiders—"

"Wanna bet?" Joe tested me.

"Five bucks on Joe." Natalie announced.

"Thanks, Nat." Joe smiled at her.

"Yeah, I'm still talking seriously here. Since you're here I was wondering if you could pick up some of Victoria's work—"

"You want me to be mayor?!" Joe asked in excitement.

"I didn't say that. Just… do her job… for her."

"You hear this stupid vault dweller guy, Nat? I'm the goddamn mayor!" Joe cheered.

"Shots for everyone!" Joe lifted his hand into the air and hurt himself, making him fall back onto his bed with a grunt.

"I'll order the medicine tomorrow, don't worry about it." Joe nodded at me.

"'Don't worry about it'? You seem like we're not about to hunt down the guy that put you in here. This kind of merits a better response from you." I told him.

"I've got a lot on my mind, Jace." Joe answered.

"He almost killed Sarah."

"And now we're gonna kill _him_, so like I said, don't worry about it."

"Alright, Joe. Congratulations to you guys." I smiled at them.

"Thanks! I'll see you and Sarah tomorrow!" Natalie waved to me from the floor as I left the hospital.

"You hang out with Sarah now?" Joe asked her.

"They want me to babysit since the two of them are off banging in the woods or something."

"Heh. Gross." Joe smiled at her.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Do you wanna bang in the woods?" Natalie asked him.

Joe turned his head over to her and waited in silence.

"…"

"Get me my crutches."

I opened the front door and closed it behind me, putting my hat on the hat rack and sighing to myself. There wasn't any food waiting for me, not like I expected her to get me any. I walked over to the cabinet and pulled out Sugar Bombs and dropped the box of flaky cereal on the dining table. I sat down by myself at the table, with the lights already turned off as Vee and Sarah were sleeping. I slumped in my chair and dug my hand into the cereal and crunched down on the food until I was done with it. I decided to fall asleep in the dining chair so I didn't have to argue with Victoria when I went into bed. I opened my eyes to her and Sarah sitting at the table. I looked at them through groggy eyes and looked down at the yellow crumbs all over my gut. I looked up at my wife and saw her glaring at me.

"You ate her breakfast, Jace."

I looked at Sarah, and then the empty box of cereal.

"I'll go to Moira's." I said dryly as I got up and shook my face awake. I wiped my hands on my face and walked outside in the cold of the morning. The sun just began to pop out from the horizon, leaving the sky black on one side and pink on the other. I shuffled tiredly over to The Craterside Supply and opened the door to it. Without realizing where I was going, I bumped harshly into another person. They moved me out of the way rudely as I stumbled around them. "I'm sorry." I told the person. They stared at me with red hot eyes and left the store.

"Hello, Deputy—Sheri… what are you again?" Moira asked me.

"I don't care about my title. Do you have Sugar bombs?" I asked her after a yawn.

"Of course. I'll get my daughter to get it."

"I didn't know you had a kid." I nodded at her.

"Yeah, Megaton just seems busy all the time lately." Moira pointed her head to the next room.

"MOIRA!" Moira screamed at her daughter. "Bring me some Sugar Bombs!"

"Your daughter is named… Moir…" I sighed half-way through my sentence and decided not to question it.

A red-haired teenager gave me the cereal and I pulled money out of my pocket to pay for it.

"So how's the family?" The older Moira asked.

"Not dead, so pretty good." I nodded as I counted the change.

"Sarah just had a birthday recently, right? How old is she now?"

"Five… no wait, four…" I tried hard to remember.

"I… uh… guess it's pretty early for you, huh?" Moira asked me.

"Uh-huh." I nodded as I walked away with the Sugar Bombs.

"I'll see you later." I put forth as I left the store.

I passed the person I bumped into and raised my head to them. "Sorry about running into you."

"It's fine." The person said without a smile as they watched me walk off.

I walked inside the house and tossed the cereal onto the table. "Enjoy, honey." I smiled at Sarah as I looked over to Victoria and sneered at her.

"I'm going to take some files Joe was working on in his office before he—" I stopped, and my eyes grew large.

"What?" Victoria asked.

"We forgot to feed Giggles!" I yelled as I ran outside to Joe's office.

I swung the door open and held my nose I smelled death. I walked into the office and looked down at Joe's desk. A dead man lay handcuffed to the desk leg, his face smiling wide; frozen in rigor mortis. "Oh shit, Giggles." I said aloud to the dead raider, sorry that no one has been in Joe's office in a month.

"That's why we can't get a dog." Vee told me back at the house.

"A lot of stuff has been going on, lately, I didn't see you remembering."

"That's not the mayor's job! You're supposed to feed your prisoners!" Vee argued.

"Well, he wasn't going to help us with Chain anyway."

"Yeah, right, no need for rehabilitation, just starve him to death."

"Sorry, Vee, but rehabilitation was the last thing on our minds with that guy."

"The crime system in this world sucks."

"Good thing you're deputy." I exhaled as put my hat on.

Victoria sighed.

"Natalie should be here any minute." Victoria said to Sarah.

"I'll miss you, honey." Vee kissed our daughter on the head.

Sarah got up and ran up to my leg and hugged it. I patted her on the head. "Go eat your breakfast, Sarah." I smiled at her.

"Not even going to say goodbye to your daughter?" Victoria asked me.

We heard a knock at the door. "That's Natalie, now." I grunted as I turned away from my wife. I opened the door and greeted Natalie, trying my best not to seem angry at her. She walked inside and smiled at Victoria as she smiled equally as nice back. Natalie then bent down to Sarah and gave her a high-five. "Ready for that make-over?" Natalie asked her. Sarah nodded with a smile.

"We'll be fine here, guys. Have fun, or whatever it is you guys do." Natalie shrugged as I nodded and left the house with Victoria to conduct the trade missions with Springvale.

"So how's your head feeling?" Natalie asked Sarah as she picked her up and placed her above the cabinets so she could grab some treats. "My mommy gave me some medicine and I feel better." Sarah responded.

"Thank you." Sarah recited afterwards, clearly forcing out the manners her parents taught her.

"You're welcome. Now don't eat too much of that, you'll get sick."

"Mommy and Daddy don't ever let me have gum drops. They're mean to me."

"Well gum drops are bad for you. The only way you're going to know that is if you have some. That's just what I think."

"Well I like these." Sarah mouthed with old sugars forcing her mouth closed.

"Not for long." Natalie smiled.

"They don't let me do anything. I can't play outside anymore or talk to Uncle Joe anymore."

Natalie looked down at her as she swallowed the gum drops.

"When you're older, you can do whatever you want, trust me." Natalie expressed.

"Why do I have to wait?"

"Because…" Natalie tried to word it for the child to understand. "Because believe it or not, you're not ready for the world as it is, and you probably won't be when you're bigger. That just happens to some people."

"Well that didn't happen to you." Sarah said as she put the gum drops down.

"You might see me as a big girl because I'm taller than you are, but that doesn't always mean I _am_. Do you understand?"

"You're… little… like me, but tall?"

"Let's just say your Uncle Joe and I have some growing up to do, still. That's why your parents don't really want him around you. For now, they want you to act grown up like them."

"But didn't you say that I may not grow up at all?"

Natalie sighed and thought how to word her sentences again.

"There are a lot of people that you see today that aren't grown up at all. There's always more you can do to act big, but… some people don't want to do that…"

"Why?" Sarah inquired.

"Because acting like a grown up sometimes makes you unhappy."

"Well that doesn't sound fun for me!"

"You're gonna have to go through it at some point, and when you realize it… you'll be happy with yourself. That time hasn't come for you yet, so live it up, kid. The time for _you_ right now is make-over O'clock." Natalie smiled as she pulled out make-up and hair care products.

Natalie noticed the gum drops sitting away from Sarah.

"Finished already?" She asked.

"I don't want them anymore." Sarah told her.

Natalie smiled and nodded as she put the candy away. "Told ya so."

Sarah stuck her tongue out at her. Natalie did the same.

Sarah's tongue dropped down and her eyes glazed and turned away from Natalie. She looked down and sniffled, her head spinning. "Sarah? Are you okay?" Natalie asked her. Blood fell from her nose. Sarah dropped to the floor with the thud as Natalie went to grab her. Her head snapped to the side when she heard a thundering knock at the door. Natalie wiped Sarah's nose and opened her eyes to see if they were dilated, even though Natalie didn't know what to do with that information if she gathered it. The door knocked again as Natalie rushed Sarah to water and opened a bottle. Little did she know the front door creaked open and a man and woman walked in behind her. Natalie mumbled some curse words as she tended to the little girl. She breathed in and exhaled into someone's arm grabbing her mouth closed. Natalie tried to scream as she was jerked back. They two stumbled back as a woman in armor picked up the girl, and stroked her hair back. Natalie muffled out screams as she jumped back and slammed the man grappling her into the dining room table, smashing and breaking the old legs as Natalie sent the attacker into it. Natalie got up and ran at the woman taking Sarah and was backhanded by the kidnapper as her right her held onto Sarah for a brief second before being detached. Natalie stumbled back and held her face. "Bitch." She muttered as she ran forward again with a fist in the air. The man regained his senses and grabbed her hand back, spinning Natalie around and throwing her head first into the cabinet of food. Loose, stale cereals and meals fell on her body as the two left with Sarah. The last thing she saw before they left were two metallic devices strapped to their wrists; something peculiar to the bandits in the Wasteland. Natalie got herself up and ran forward, her head dazed. She fell to her knees, nauseous from the blunt force applied to her head. She got to her feet and ran forward, following the two people as they left Megaton in a large group of people. "Stop!" Natalie yelled in the crowd as she fell again, her spinning as if she had four shots of vodka on an empty stomach. She spotted the three further away now, heading towards the rocky hills miles north.

Natalie regained her composure, and walked up to the nearest guard and grabbed his weapon from his hands. "Uh, miss, I kinda need that for my job." Natalie threw money that she earned from gambling at him. "Uh… never mind." The people ignored the woman as she ran after them at full, sobering speed. She aimed the rifle through the sights and popped off one, two, and an accurate third shot that flung itself through the chest cavity of the man. Natalie sprinted as the woman carrying Sarah turned around to see Natalie teeing the rifle butt off her head, using her running force to club her across the chin. The woman flew back from the blow and fell onto her side, rolling Sarah to the side. Natalie panted heavily, barreling over onto her knees and catching her breath as the woman felt her broken nose and bloody lip and chin.

"Who… are you?" The woman asked Natalie.

"I'm…" Natalie had to gasp for air, she had not worked out in a while.

"I'm the babysitter."

"Alright, hold on… gimme… a sec." Natalie coughed and spat onto the floor and lifted up one finger to the woman, putting her life on the line for just a second as she caught her breath. Natalie regained her stamina and executed the woman with the rifle. Natalie picked Sarah up and walked back to Megaton. Natalie threw the rifle back to the guard, cradling Sarah in her arm.

Without looking at the guard, she told her: "You suck at your job."


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: "For a Better Future…"**

"I'm telling you, they looked different." Natalie explained to us back at the house.

"What do you mean, Natalie? Use your words." I issued to her as I felt my temples.

"Don't talk to her like she's our daughter. Oh wait, you don't talk to her either." Victoria shot at me.

"Oh Jesus Christ." I sighed in stress.

"Is everything okay at home, guys?" Natalie asked us.

"No, Natalie, someone tried to kidnap our daughter, so please for the love of God, tell us what happened!" I exclaimed.

"They were raiders. They had some new tech on them and they were just weird."

"What do you mean?" Vee asked.

"They didn't act like they were hopped up on chems. They seemed like they knew what they were doing."

I shook my head. "This can't be Chain." I said in disbelief.

"Well it is. You know what he's capable of." Victoria told me.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow." I said as I lumbered away from them.

"It's not even sunset yet." Natalie told me.

"I'm not feeling good."

"Sarah isn't either. She fainted today."

"I'll take her to the doctor tomorrow." I grunted as I grasped the staircase handrail and started climbing.

"Put it off to the last minute, that's what he always does." Victoria said quietly to Natalie but also loud enough so I could hear the complaints.

"I'm not putting it off to the last minute. Sarah's already asleep, so when she wakes up—"

"What if she doesn't? This isn't a normal cold, Jace! Where are your paternity instincts? Have they not kicked in when you were playing cowboy?"

Natalie cleared her throat. "This is starting to get awkward, so…" She grabbed her pay and left the house.

"You realize you're playing along with me, too, right?" I asked my wife as I exhaled at the top of the stairs.

"I'm doing it to make sure my child's safe, Jace! Why are you going around fighting people?"

"There's a fucking psycho on the loose! That's why I'm doing this! I'm definitely not doing it to make my life more exciting, that's for—" I breathed in for a deep second.

"What's the matter, not feeling up to talking to me?!" Vee yelled up a story of stairs.

"You call this… talking?" I asked her as I shook my head and turned away.

"It's better than the conversations we've been having lately!"

I shut our bedroom door on her and locked her out, my head spinning. I stripped my clothes off because I was sweating and then fell down on my bed. My body needed rest, and the weird position I was slouched on my bed provided me just that. I passed out on it as Victoria's muffled screams echoed in my ear.

I remembered walking through the halls of the vault, every decoration hung up on my old neighbor's doors filled my chest up with nostalgia. I looked around and smiled. Things seemed great, looking back at it. I felt like a 16 year old kid again, and as soon as I realized that, my adult thoughts flooded in. I remembered the lies the vault held, the forced tests and Utopian styled niche that made me into a mindless drone for the Overseer to control. I hated myself for being so blind to what was happening, but inside, I knew my mind was free. I spotted to my side and saw Rachel standing beside me, the words "Best Friend" Floating above her, but implanted to my head.

"This is your home…" She told me. "Why did you abandon it?"

I was confused, hurt. I thought I was helping my home, I _knew _I was helping, she was wrong.

I passed my father; his title was displayed above his head. "I bled for you… and you did the very thing I died for to keep you from doing. You betrayed me. You left me."

I didn't betray him, I did what was right, I was sacrificing things like this to save people. I'm selfless and if he doesn't understand, I don't care. I'd do the same thing again if it means the people alive today will be alive tomorrow.

I then passed the old Overseer, his menacing eyes and his floating title above him.

"You went out there for what? To fulfil a childish dream of the world outside? Look what it cost you, boy. Look what you've done to yourself. Look what you divulged. Look what you_ are_. A murderer."

I know I wasn't the murderer, he was. He hurt and killed to maintain his power, to fulfil his selfish wish of being the leader over an army of puppets. He was just upset I had a mind of my own.

I passed Chip, with the title "Childhood Bully" above his head.

"Everyone said you were a good kid. I'm glad they were wrong. You're not the hero you think you are. You've poisoned our home. I'm happy I used every chance and hurt and intimidate you, Jace. You're a monster."

There's not a single thing I've done in my life that would merit those words. You know who _is_ the monster? The person who would berate and bully a child because he doesn't think they can be friends. He ruined my childhood and made me hate this place. _He_'s the reason why I left, people like him, who think that what they are doing is right but not caring about what they're doing to others. They're blind, they're fools. They're the monsters.

I walked past all of them in rage, stopping to see a child in front of me. She had black long hair and a skinny, questioned and anti-social look in her eyes. It was my daughter.

"_This_ is why you did what you did? _This_?" A voice said behind me as I looked at her.

It was worth it.

"No. You're wrong."

My blood is important.

"Not when it's spilled for 'peace'."

I have a legacy. I have dreams and goals and aspirations and fears. My main fear: losing her.

"No matter what you do, she is going to fall, with or without you watching over her, with or without the help of others. What do you think is going to happen then? You think you'll be remembered as saints? No, you killed for her, you made sure nothing happens to her. Saints don't become the devil."

I'm protecting her. I'm doing what any father would do.

"No father would do this." A voice said as I looked at a lonely bearded man in the desert, dying of starvation as his daughter sat in a desk, flooded by his work that he left in his passing. She had lost her touch, her graces and airs, her colorful hair and her slender body. She wasn't a girl; she was a woman, an Overseer. And she was only 25.

He was not fit to be a father to her. She deserved better. A desk job is better than neglect and abuse.

I spotted my wife crying at a table with a wine glass next to her, and a sleeping girl on the couch. She tried to conceal her tears so she wouldn't wake her daughter.

"Neglect and abuse?" The voice asked.

It's not neglect and abuse if I'm doing it to help their lives. They're going to be happy one day because they're suffering now, and that's another sacrifice I had to make.

"I'm sure many an Overseer has said that."

No. They do it for themselves, not for others, to increase their social standing and climb and climb and bite their tongue at the top of the ladder. They did nothing with that power, as I used it to help others.

I then felt my body traveling vast distances across the Wasteland, stopping at the Battle of the Gun Shack, where the cave lay abandoned, except for a small band of scavengers that took the place over. I had forgot to issue guards there to collect the slaves and weapons, and instead, others replaced the raiders that were there, and soon they would be just as powerful over people and well-equipped as the past residents. I saw a glance at a town I visited in a past year when I had been fallen by a brutal man with more strength than me at the time. The gangs had continued to take from the needy until one day; there were no more needy living. And soon, there would be none living in the city at all. It was destined to be a ghost town because no one stood up to the evil that rested inside there.

I went into a white room, with a woman standing there, a warm smile and a white dress with the words "Vault-Tec" stitched into it.

"You were blessed with a curse. Self-awareness will make any man insane. Or persevere."

"What is this?" I asked.

"Welcome to Project Legacy, sponsored by Vault-Tec. You have been recalled. Have a wonderful day."

And I was awake-for whatever that was worth.

I was nude, outside of Megaton, alone in the morning with just a pair of boxers covering me. I was sitting next to a dead, black tree. I got up and looked around. I was sweating; my hair was blasted around my head as if I was ripping at it. I was scared of what I did in my blackout first, and then looked at my fingernails. Brown and black were they as I peered. Scratches and dried blood were sprinkled around them. I rushed back home and flung the front door open. I looked at Vee and Joe talking at the table.

"What the hell is this?" I asked them in betrayal. Why were they talking without me? There wasn't any need to go behind my back, into my own home when they both had jobs to do. I was angered.

"Hi I'm Joseph. I wrote a book, I'm kind of a big deal around here." Joe answered. "I'm sorry, that was a horrible response to what you just asked. Let me try again." Joe said as he recuperated his thoughts.

"…"

"Why are you naked and why are your arms covered in dirt?" He asked me after the pause.

"Uh… I…"

"Drunk." Joe said as he snapped his fingers and pointed at me.

"I invited Joe over here today, Jace." Victoria told me in a dead tone as I put my green button up on and brown pants.

"Why?" I asked her, knowing there was a catch. I washed my hands off.

Joe nodded, preparing sarcasm. "That's nice. Pretty sure that we're best friends, but—"

"Tell him the truth Jace." Victoria said as she looked at the floor. Joe looked at her face, and then up at me. He was silent, listening. His humor was wiped away. I knew what this was about.

"What's wrong?" He asked us in a low voice.

I looked at him and opened my mouth, sighed, and closed it. It was like abandoning a lost puppy when he was attached to you, and I knew Vee didn't have it in her to tell him.

"We want a divorce."

"W-What?" He asked me, looking at Victoria for confirmation. Her face was gray and tired. She looked at the ground.

Joe smiled and shook his head. "You can't do that… y-you guys have a daughter. She's four years old, guys!" He said, almost begging.

"Five." I corrected him.

"_Four_." Victoria corrected me.

I looked at her and opened my mouth, looking at the ground.

"We need to get ourselves together, Joe. It's just—"

"No!" Joe yelled. We looked up at him.

"We're… we're best friends, guys! You guys are best friends, this shouldn't happen to you!"

I tried to explain. "It's for Sarah's wellbeing, she's not growing up ar—"

"How can you do this and say it's for her? She's a _fucking_ kid, Jace!" Joe shouted.

"Watch your language." Victoria told him weakly.

"I… I told you… you guys were supposed to be the good ones… you're supposed to protect her! Not fucking throw her to the side while you worry about yourselves!"

"We _are_ protecting her. Just differently than you thought." Victoria told him.

Joe inhaled. We sat in silence.

"How did this happen?" Joe asked us as he dropped his head in his hands.

"I don't know. It just did… We're not kids anymore, Joe. There are people out there that are trying to kill us and we don't have the time to focus on things like a family."

"Then why did you start one?!" Joe yelled at me as he slammed his fist on the table in rage as his words expressed a different emotion. "She's… she's just a kid, guys! You can't do this to her!"

"I promise what happened to you won't happen to her. She'll have her parents." I assured him.

"This isn't about me!" Joe boomed.

We heard steps approach down the stairs. We turned to see her trot towards us slowly.

"What's wrong?" She asked us.

"Nothing, Sarah." I told her.

"Uncle Joe!" Sarah smiled as she ran over to him and hugged his hurt legs.

"Oof... you just keep getting prettier every time I see you. You got your parents' good looks." Joe smiled at her as he hugged back.

"Can you run upstairs and look for that comic book I've been asking you for?" Joe issued a challenge to her.

"'Ladies of the Amazon'? Okay!" Sarah nodded as she got upstairs.

Joe grabbed his crutches and silently moved to the front door.

"Joe—"

"Don't ever talk to me again." Joe told us.

He turned himself around, and pointed to us.

"If anything happens to that little girl… I'll… I'll..."

He didn't have any other words.

He left through the front door, and I looked down, and then at my wife. We made eye contact for a split second until we looked at something else for longer than we should have.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22: Exile**

They wouldn't follow me to chase Chain. I made sure there were more important things for them to worry about than revenge. The Rad-Away and radiation suits arrived the next day. The town gained that information and knew what was going to happen next. Without a word spoken, I packed up and issued the Special Forces to meet me at the entrance to town. Now that I had everything I needed, I walked to the armory and went to the closet. I grabbed a trench coat and held it in my arm. I grabbed a shortened pump-action shotgun and some shells, along with a rifle holster and put it in my pack. I put the shells in my pocket and grabbed a 10mm pistol and rounds and put them in my pack and the round in my back pocket. I walked to my house and fished out an old Vault-Tec bulletproof vest and threw it to the side for a better one from the armory. I went to the bar and I bought water and some bags of chips. I walked towards the gates with my new weapons. The entire town was there, along with Joe, Natalie, Victoria and Sarah. Joe was signing things and enjoying the publicity he got when I walked up to them. I looked over to a woman with a shaved head. She had on sunglasses, along with combat armor. She donned a scoped rifle on her back and a serious face.

"This is Tai." A guard informed me. "She's our best trained guard here... since Michael. The other guards call her a soldier because she takes her job seriously. She'll set up camp in areas that are deemed safe."

He then pointed to a boy who looked no less than 17 years old. He was skinny and seemed nervous, yet focused. He had brown short hair and no sign of facial hair. He shook when the guard pointed to him. He wore a regular shirt and cargo pants and had brown eyes.

"And this here is Manny. He's one of our best scavengers. He seems to find things just about anywhere. He'll be your guide through the ruins and the person in charge of food management. He's one of our younger troops, so go easy on him." The guard introduced me.

He then pointed to a burly man who was taller than everyone by at least three heads. He had a shaved head and no beard. He looked like a big ball of muscles. He had olive colored eyes, and cracked his neck when I looked at him. His clothes were a normal white shirt and long, loose fitting pants. His clothes seemed tattered, but not messy. He didn't seem to have a neck when I looked at him. I saw that he carried a large metal box on his back, along with a gun bigger than me.

"This here is Dimitri, he volunteered for this job. Seems to hate raiders. He'll be your muscle when you're traveling. He's got a giant gun that he always uses." The guard told me.

"Her name is Daniella. She is a .308 caliber automatic machine rifle and shoots 100 rounds per second. Don't touch." Dimitri said in a deep and unknown accent.

"Oh yeah, he says he from Russian descent." The guard said. Dimitri nodded his head in acceptance. Joe then pointed to a man with messy black hair and a defined face with soft blue eyes. He carried a satchel and utility belt with various tools. He had blood stained clothes that once seemed like it was a different color. He had an arrogant look on his face, and seemed like he was too good for this. His head was held high when the guard introduced him.

"This here is Doc..uhhm, what did you say your name was?" The guard asked.

"I didn't. I am a doctor and that is all sie need to know." The man said with an accent.

"Yeah, okay. Anyway he's your medic and tech guy. He's a master strategist and genius with electronics. He came from a town up north, where everyone speaks German. I forgot the name of it..."

"Die Starken Stadt: The Strong Town." The man said.

"Alright, well these are your guys, treat them well, Jace. Good luck." The guard said as he patted my back.

"I will." I said.

I walked over to Victoria and looked into her eyes. They reflected light more than anyone else's.

"I know that you might die out there." She told me as she felt her hand.

She handed me my engagement ring and walked away in tears. I looked at it and blinked slowly, remembering what I did to give her it. I sniffled and I put it in my pocket and looked over to Joe.

"I wish you could come with me." I told him.

"_Someone_ has to take care of your daughter." He spat out at me coldly.

"And I'm glad it's you…"

He looked at me with bitter resentment.

"…It was always you."

I told him in a blank voice as I thumbed my engagement ring in my pocket and looked over to Sarah. I looked back at Joe and took the sheriff's badge off my torso and gave it to him.

"It suits you better." I told him.

Joe breathed in through his nose and didn't blink at me. I bent down to her.

"Do you know what I'm about to do, sweetie?" I asked my daughter.

"You're leaving me alone." She told me in a voice that beat out mine for the most depressed.

"No. I'm going to protect you. I promise. I know you don't understand but you will eventually." I inhaled and closed my eyes, opening them to see the green in hers. "I tried so hard to keep you safe, but now, there's nothing I can do about it. It's in your hands. And before you go out there and make something of yourself like I know you will, I have to tell you everything." I told her, quoting a man who knew more than anyone else who has ever touched the Wasteland. I knew she wouldn't understand, but one day she would.

"Why are you crying?" She asked me.

I tried to be as realistic as possible. "Because I may not come back to you." I said, choking up. "I need you to understand that."

She blinked, and her eyes began to gloss up with water. She still didn't know what I meant and it broke my heart when I realized I had more to say.

"And that's why you have all these people with you, Sarah. These people have done so much for you and in return they only ask you to be safe. Don't ever do what I'm doing now and please… keep Joe away from other women." I said with a smile. Joe exhaled and walked away. I painfully inhaled and cleared my throat.

"I'm sorry I don't tell you this enough, but I love you. Everything I do is for you. People may not understand my methods, but what I'm doing is right. I feel it, and one day, you'll feel it too."

"I… don't understand." She told me.

"You don't have to." I told her as I kissed her forehead. I got up and looked over to Natalie as she bowed her head to me.

"I know they're mad at you right now, for… whatever reason. But please don't die Jace, you mean the world to them." She told me.

"Well… they mean the world to me." I told her as I sniffled and wiped my nose.

"Take my daughter home and give her some Sugar Bombs. They're her favorite." I told her.

"She likes Gum Drops now." Natalie informed me.

"Oh…" I said disappointingly as I looked down. I couldn't even name my daughter's favorite food.

"But she still likes Sugar Bombs." Natalie added to try to cheer me up.

I nodded, and turned to the Special Forces. I picked up my shotgun and held it in one arm.

I looked over to the kid named Manny. "Lead…" I sighed halfway through "lead the way." I told him.

He saluted me and started walking quickly. The four of us followed him away from the town. The townspeople cheered and waved as we left. None of my best friends or family were with them. They cheered until we got so far away that the sounds faded away. The five of us were alone in the wilderness, with most of us unaware where we were going.

Back at Megaton, from the high hills near Vault 101 were a vast army of raiders, supported with New World tech, firebombs and grenades. The leader had a stop sign attached to plate armor. He peered at the metal city and then lifted his wrist up. He marked it on his wrist mounted-computer, with the words "Vault-Tec" stamped on the side. He looked at his men.

"If you can't take them with you… kill them." He ordered as the men charged downhill with 10mm pistols, bulletproof vests and batons, all issued by Vault-Tec. An aged woman walked next to him and folded her arms.

"I just need _him_. Make sure you don't get him killed. We need him." She told him.

"No promises." The leader told her.

**END OF PART 1**


	24. Chapter 23

**Part 2**

**Chapter 23: Without a Torch**

Joe sat down in my house with his crutches slouched against the table with Victoria. They didn't speak for a few seconds, they just found a spot to stare at and not make eye contact.

"Did you say goodbye to him?" Victoria asked Joe.

He looked up at her. "No."

"Why…" Joe's hands shook.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asked her.

Victoria looked up at him. "Because you're just as much a kid as my daughter. You live in a fantasy land where we all end up as heroes no matter what. It's like-it's one big show for you, you don't care about us, you only care about whether you look good in the end. You're not a man; you're an ego-maniac, Joe. And you can't be troubled with a commoner's affairs."

Natalie opened the front door and Sarah walked in, her hands at her sides.

"You left your daughter." Natalie told Victoria.

"Oh… I'm sorry." Victoria told her daughter in her forgetfulness.

Sarah looked up at her mother.

"It's nap time Sarah." Victoria told her as she sent her upstairs.

"Okay." She responded as she went up the stairs.

Natalie looked at the two adults sitting at the table, looking down at their feet. "He's your best friend and you didn't even say goodbye to him?" She asked them with irritation.

Victoria looked up in anger. "Excuse m—"

"He's your best friend, and he's about to go an attempt and assassination against the most dangerous raider in D.C. without either one of you at his side. Do you guys even realize how he must be feeling after you shove an engagement ring in his face and act like he's already dead? Did you even hear what he had to say to Sarah?" Natalie asked the two.

"You don't understand." Joe tried to argue.

"Joe, I married you because you care. You cared about these people to the point where you would die for them. What the hell happened to you guys?"

Joe blinked and inhaled a response. "I… I—"

Gunshots rang out and screams soon followed. Victoria got up and sprang to action as Natalie turned around. "Get Sarah." Joe told her. She rushed over to her daughter as Natalie rushed outside.

A gust of warm wind blew past her as she pulled her brown hair back, exposing her eyes to flames. The buildings that were once crafted by men were blown apart by firebombs as raiders flooded the city. They grabbed as many people they could and dragged them away; anyone who fought back was shot by their perfectly maintained firearms. Natalie ran back inside as the town shook with the man-made earth quakes crashing into the town.

"We need to go." Natalie told them frantically.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked as he got up quickly, and felt his wounds in pain as he grab hold of his crutch.

"Get out of the city now. All of us have to go." Natalie said quickly as she tied up her hair and jogged over to Victoria and Sarah.

"Come on, honey." Victoria told her daughter quickly as she picked her up.

"Natalie, answer me! What's wrong?!" Joe yelled at her.

The door crashed open with a raider and his shotgun. Joe flipped his crutch to one arm and lobbed it at the raider's temple. He fell back and fired a shell into the air as he fell to the ground. Sarah screamed.

"Go! NOW!" Natalie yelled as Victoria held her daughter tightly and ran out the front door.

Joe limped back over to his crutch as Natalie held him up. The gunshots and explosives along with the shouts and screams of terror blanketed their ear drums. The raider that was hit by the crutch grabbed Joe as he moved by him and Natalie slammed his head against the scrap metal door and knocked him out in response.

"Come on, Joe. You have to move faster." His wife pressured him as he crutched quickly out the door.

"You… you've got to go without me." Joe wheezed at her.

"Shut up and move." She told him.

Joe spotted Vee moving back to them as she held her daughter's face away from the carnage. The raiders ran at her with knives and batons at her. Victoria pulled out her rifle with one hand and looked over to Natalie. There was no way she could shoot them with Sarah in her hands.

"Natalie!" Victoria begged to her as she tossed the lever-action rifle to her.

Natalie let go of Joe and let him catch his breath against the wall as she caught the rifle and popped off rounds at them. They caught the bullets that hit their chests with their Kevlar armor, but few fell to the rare neck shot that she dished out.

"Go!" Natalie pointed to a hole in the wall caused by a grenade blast.

Joe coughed and felt his re-opened wounds against the wall as his wife covered Victoria and Sarah. Victoria sprinted to the hole in the wall. A raider emerged from the very same exit and slapped Victoria in her head with his crafted weapon. He huffed out and his knuckles cracked as Victoria's face did the same. Sarah rolled out from her mother's arms and landed next to Natalie, who aimed the rifle directly at the leader. Joe inhaled quickly and tried to regain his composure before he fought the leader again.

Chain looked at Natalie as she aimed the rifle at him.

"I'm sorry doll-face." He told her as a raider came up behind her and bashed the back of her head in.

Joe wheezed and got up from the wall and crutched over to the raider with his fury overflowing.

"Really?" Chain sighed as Joe moved closer to him.

The leader sweep kicked the man's crutches from him and sent him into the ground with a thud and groan. He picked up one crutch and snapped it against his knee. He walked around Joe as he balled his fists up in retaliation. Chain went and snapped another crutch, and threw the useless pieces at the downed celebrity.

"I warned ya', Joey." Chain said in pity as the raiders dragged Victoria and Natalie out of the city. Chain bent down and grabbed Sarah as she struggled to get free. Joe inhaled sharply as he tried to grab Sarah and get her away from him.

"And now you lose." He said to Joe as he walked out of the city with Sarah in his arms and the raiders as the rest of the town burned and the citizens were rallied up or killed on the spot. Joe crawled to his knees to chase after him, but without his crutches he couldn't get far before his legs gave out. Now five inches away from his starting point, he dragged his hands against the terrain after the bandits.

"Come back!" Joe commanded over his pain.

"Bring her back!" He yelled at them in defeat.

"You… can't do this!" Joe yelled at him with no air in his lungs as he crawled forward and gave up, falling over to his back, red and out of energy to continue. He slipped into an unconscious state after this, his body needed rest and now it forced it at the most inopportune time. He was soon alone, in a dead town with smoke all around.

"C'mon, up this hill." Manny said in a high-pitched voice as we followed the path. Dimitri grunted we he heard it. Manny pointed to the city on the horizon. The city looked big, even all the way out here. It looked like it was going to be a while until we got there, maybe a few days. We went down the hill and continued walking.

"So Manny, how do you know where this place was?" I asked, trying to make small talk that no one wanted as we made it over to the D.C. ruins.

"I found the place when I went scavenging. Didn't find much there, had to be pulled out of the city because of radiation. I almost died." Manny said rather quickly.

"How'd you survive?" I asked.

"He probably had to run away like a little girl." Dimitri grunted.

"Hey, easy there, big guy! Anyway, I took some medicine that some people gave me, but I passed out. Woke up outside the city, so I went back to town." Manny explained.

"Did you know who those people were?" I asked.

"Nope, but they seemed friendly." Manny said.

"Wow, you're luck-" I was interrupted by Tai.

"Quiet, there's something nearby." Tai said in a professional tone.

We all squatted down and waited for Tai to go forward. She pointed out radscorpions, which are irradiated scorpions that grew due to the large amounts of radiation in the puddles around here. I saw one when I went patrolling one day, and I stayed away from it. Tai aimed through the scope and looked at them.

"There's three. We can't let them get close, if they swarm us, we'll be overrun if they get at least one of us with its poison." She told us.

"Alright, we should-" I was caught off by Tai firing her rifle. She reloaded the bolt-action and took another shot, and then another.

"Got them." Tai said.

"Wow, nice shot, how'd you learn all this stuff?" Manny asked.

"Experience." Tai replied.

"I can already tell this is going to be one cliché adventure." I sighed.

"If clichés are all you're worried about, you need to get your priorities fixed." Tai responded.

"My priorities are just fine." I retorted.

We kept walking towards the town, the sun started to set behind us.

"So... Dimitri, is it? Why'd you volunteer for this job?" I asked.

"Why are you asking questions?" Dimitri asked, his tone was serious.

"Good response." I muttered.

"Hey, big guy, lighten up, we'll be heroes after this!" Manny squeaked.

"You shouldn't care about titles, kid. Especially if we're going to die in that city." Tai said to him.

"That's why you guys are so serious? You all think you're going to die?" I asked.

"We all accepted this job because we didn't care about what would happen to us, well... all except the little baby over there." Dimitri said as he looked at Manny.

"Yeah, you probably'll die. Feel heroic yet?" I asked them coldly, not caring about making friends, ever again.

"I heard stories that the radiation gets so bad out there that you mutate into something worse than a ghoul. You become bigger and more clouded. You can't think straight, and all you want to do is kill. They're called Super-Mutants." Dimitri told us.

"They can't be that bad and besides, if we get hurt we have the doctor over here, right doctor...uh." Manny tried to think of a name to call him.

"I don't not care of the names sie call me." He said.

"All right, Doc. That's a good enough name, right?" Manny asked. Doc sighed and ignored him.

His name was Doc now.

"C'mon guys, we'll probably be fine." I told them tiredly.

"If that is true, then why did you give away your badge, then?" Dimitri asked me.

I had no response. I didn't want to explain it to them.

"My point exactly." Dimitri mumbled.

"It's getting late. We should set up camp here. We can see a few meters on all sides and can set up a defense if we need it." Tai informed us.

"Here?" I asked.

"Here. It's open and we can hear things easily." Tai responded.

"Alright." I said.

Tai took out three foldable tents and gave them to us to put up. We put them all up, sticking the forks in the dirt. Tai then took out sleeping bags and handed them to us. Manny went to go find fire wood. He returned quickly and dumped the sticks in front of the tents. Manny pulled out a lighter and lit them. They burned brightly as he put in more sticks. He then set up a pan over the fire and took out some canned beans from his pack. Manny poured them in the pan and began to cook them. The sun set and we gathered around the fire as we waited for the food to cook. From the looks of it, we didn't make any progress towards the town. The beans finally cooked and we began to eat them in plate that Manny carried.

"How'd you find wood so fast?" I asked him.

"Just seems natural. The wilderness seems...predictable. I can always find what I'm looking for if I try." Manny said. He actually talked slowly for once.

"So, Dimitri, where'd you get that gun from?" Manny asked.

"Sasha was not found. She came to me like one comes to a destination. She is my best freind and is forever my companion." Dimitri answered angrily.

"You do know that's a gun, right?" Manny asked. Dimitri grunted back.

"So, Doc, where'd you train to get that medical experience?" I asked him, still not caring about the answer I get.

"Meine town was known for many doctors, it had a hospital for many people. Ich was the best of them all. Ich know everything there is to know about medicine so you are lucky to have me." Doc said happily.

"You must of had access to a lot of medicines, then." Manny nodded.

"Ja, not like this place... so little medicines. Meine expertise was using medicine to their full potential. Ich can treat a man with a gunshot to the head with an injector, if I had it available." Doc said arrogantly.

"Great, let's hope that happens so you can show off." I grunted.

We finished our food and went back to our tents. I shared a tent with Manny. Tai was with Doc, and Dimitri with his own tent, due to his size. I fell asleep easily, from being tired of all the walking. I woke up to Manny poking me in the face. I opened my eyes and glared at him.

"You're lucky that punching you in the face would make me feel like hurting a little girl." I warned him.

"C'mon time to wake up, we have a lot of ground to cover!" Manny exclaimed to the camp.

I got up and folded the tent and gave it to Tai, who was already awake. Manny woke everyone else up, except Dimitri, who got me to do it for him. We all continued walking towards the town. It looked like we just got started walking there. We were walking on a dirt path when Manny stopped us.

"What is the problem, molisch?" Dimitri asked the child.

"I forgot. Big raider camp up ahead. Almost shot me once, about 20 guys there." Manny warned us.

I sighed. "Great, what are we-"

Dimitri ran up ahead, taking out Sasha and letting out a ferocious battle-cry. We all chased him.

"Are you kidding me with this shit?!" I yelled at their unprofessionalism.

The camp was positioned in a small crater. The main focus of it was that the raiders used a small building and put tents around it. Dimitri ran inside the building, leaving the outside raiders to us. Tai pulled out her rifle and started firing. Manny ran around and flanked them from behind. He fired at them with a pistol, taking cover and pulling the trigger rapidly, making the pistol recoil and miss. I ran in and started shooting with my shotgun as the raiders were preoccupied with Tai and Manny. Doc stayed behind and did not fight, only looking at the spectacle, and brushing his coat off. We finished off most of the raiders, when Tai turned around to Doc.

"What's the matter with you, why didn't you fight?" Tai asked.

"Ich do not kill, a true doctor only heals." Doc responded proudly.

I ran inside to the building as I heard Dimitri laughing and firing inside. I opened the door and saw blood all over the room, dead bodies everywhere. Dimitri was in the middle, holding Sasha and panting, crouched down in the epicenter of the bodies.

"What the hell, dude?! These guys are supposed to be the psychopaths, not us!" I yelled.

"I...I'm sorry. I-I don't know what happened to me." Dimitri responded.

"Why did you run off like that?" I asked.

"That, my friend, is a story for another time." Dimitri said as he got up.

"Oh, cool, I get to learn backstory soon, that was my end goal for this trip, you know." I told him sarcastically as I left the building.

"Doc and Tai were yelling at each other, their faces angered and their arms outstretched with balled up fists at the end.

"Ich do not tell you what to do! Do not order me around, soldier-girl!" Doc shouted.

"Well you should have some common sense and attack the people that are _shooting_ at us!" Tai yelled.

"Ich have common sense! I—am—not—an-idiot!" Doc shouted.

"Both of you shut up before we enter the city with two less people!" I shouted.

The group looked at me.

"Listen to me. You people have an important job to do here, and if I see you guys go off on pointless babble-shit again, I'll go into that city without you and finish this myself, I promise you." I warned.

"I'm not playing daddy to you people; I'm telling you the truth because you're adults now, even if you're kids. What you agreed to do now makes you an adult, and all the privileges you think it comes with." I added as I looked at all their faces. "You people are now _expendable_. Your lives mean _nothing_ to me. They only matter to _you_. So get your shit together and play house later, because _now_, your life is on the line. This is not the time to argue or worry about your past, it's about making sure people don't go out here and do what we're doing ever again. And if you think your differences are more important you need to leave this group or shut the fuck up."

"Hypocrite." Dimitri muttered.

I lifted my shotgun and aimed it at him.

The camp was silent and the towering man stared down the barrel.

"Would you even care if I pulled the trigger?" I asked him.

"No."

"Good." I spat out.

"Keep that in mind the next time a raider does this to you." I added.

They looked at me and then somewhere else and reflected. I glared at them and packed my shotgun up and walked away. They listened and we went back on track. We kept moving until sunset, and then we set up camp again. Manny got a fire started and food set up. The tents were set up by Tai once again. We sat around the campfire and ate. I stood up and stared away from the camp. These people may be emotional idiots, but at least they'll follow me into a battle.

"What was that rage all about, big guy?" Manny asked.

"None of your buisness, molisch." Dimitri said.

"Just leave him alone, Manny." I said as I ate my bag of chips.

"I'm sorry that I did that at the raider encampment, everybody, it's a problem that I have." Dimitri explained.

"It's all right, besides I got revenge on those raiders who almost killed me." Manny said as he looked down.

"No good, lousy bandits." Manny mumbled angrily.

"You hate raiders? These hope for you yet, molisch!" Dimitri laughed. After a while, Manny did too.

"So… who trained you, Tai?" I asked, swallowing the silence in my throat. "I don't remember training you myself, I'm sure I would have with your experience."

"You guys didn't train me. I transferred from Springvale recently. The pay's better in your town." Tai said as she sat down on a log and kept her head down.

"Springvale? How has that town been doing?" I asked her.

"It's horrible, on the verge of collapse... that's why I left, and went to your town. It's... more stable there." Tai said, carefully picking her words as she carefully picks her shots.

"Thanks I guess."

"So what's up with you, big J? Something tells me you aren't always this cheery." Manny asked me.

"I don't think that matters now. You saw the end of it." I told him as I threw the empty bag on the ground and walked away.

Dimitri grunted at me as I walked past him.

"Get some rest, guys. We've probably got some raiders to kill tomorrow." I said. The men agreed and we headed to our tents.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24: A Modern Day Man**

Manny poked my face on the brink of dawn. My eyes shot open and I grabbed him by his medium-length hair.

"If you touch my face again, I'll make sure you won't be able to do that again." I threatened tiredly.

"Ow." Manny said quietly as he left the tent.

Everyone seemed more social today, but reserved to keeping to themselves, unwilling to share food and water, only stories and jokes.

"What's our ETA?" Tai asked Manny.

"By the way we're traveling, a few more days, as long as nothing gets in our way, that is." Manny said as he adjusted his holster.

We kept walking towards the city. It seemed to get bigger as we walked. I started to see large buildings more clearly. Dimitri pointed towards a pointed tower in the middle of the city.

"What is that tower, molisch?" Dimitri asked Manny.

"It's a symbol of the city. It's called The Washington Monument, but that's all I know about it, haven't been too close to it to find out what it's like there. Would like to see what it's like to see the top of it. Maybe we can stop there when we're inside." Manny said.

"Hmm." Dimitri said as he scratched his head.

"Not going to happen. We're not here to sight-see." I said in a crisp voice. Manny sighed. "Alright." He agreed…

Miles away, a wounded, bloody faced man spat out blackened spit onto the ground as he rolled over. Smoke pillars surrounded him; broken metal was laid across his body, reminding him of his injuries. He groaned loudly as he rolled over to his side. Something was broken, he just didn't know what. He dug his fingernails into the dirt and crawled to the center of town. It was the quietest Megaton ever was. The black birds that flew over his head heard only the pained grunts of a crippled man crawling on his hands to find something to prop him up. He whined out in pain and he dragged his wounded, stiff body across the dirt until he found a staircase and rested on it. He leaned his face against the cold scrap metal and it soothed his sweating face. He breathed heavily and with a morning taste in his mouth, he recalled everything that happened to him. His instinct was to get up; and he almost did if his body wasn't so weak. His chest bobbed up and down with heavy breaths as he lifted himself up the hospital stairs to look at the town.

Everything was battle-torn. People clearly fought back. Holes and fires once spread through the town, but died down along with the unlucky group of people who decided to fight for a cause. They had no one backing them up, no law system, no friends, no family to defend them. What they were left with was a gun in their hand and the need to keep what was happening from happening.

But they failed. They all failed, and now they were dead. Joe saw this and looked down at the ground. What happened at Megaton should never have happened, he knew that. His excuse to not fight back wasn't good enough. Someone should have been there to protect these people, even if he couldn't. He couldn't protect anyone; not his wife or his best friends. They weren't even best friends, Joe thought. He wasn't a man, he wasn't a sheriff or deputy or mayor. He was a failure and he let the only people who he once would have died for go away on a march to their deaths. And now, there wasn't a thing he could do. He failed at his one job…

But failure doesn't always signify the end. It only shows the status. A failure is a mindset; a temporary setback. Failure isn't always something that is decided after you've tried everything, in fact, it's the opposite. And if one thing was certain at that point, failure was the last thing on Joe's mind.

He pushed the hospital doors open and limped to the front desk. Dead doctors lie on the floor. Bed sheets and gurneys were scattered everywhere. They dragged them from their hospital beds, without a care for their medical condition, and Joe could have been one of them. For some reason he was gifted the chance to fail again, but that wasn't going to happen.

He was going to get better. He was going to track them down. He was going to kill the people that took those girls from him and most of all…

He wasn't going to fail again.

Chain was going to die, at any cost. Joe's done a lot of stupid things in his life, but this-this wasn't one of them. And he wasn't doing it to be remembered as a hero or celebrity, he was neither of them, they were just titles others gave him. He just wanted to save his friends, even if he hated them and even if they hated him. Because that's what a man does, he sucks it up and does what's right. He would have to fight for them because he's the only one who could, despite his injuries. He would have to die for his friends, he thought, because that's _what a man does_. _He sucks it up and he does the right thing_, even if people aren't there to cheer for him from the sidelines.

"Alright guys, this area is known for some raiders. Saw a bunch of patrols around here, so keep your eyes open." Manny said.

We all nodded our heads in agreement. We pulled out our weapons and surveyed the area as we walked. Doc stood there, and Tai glared at him. We didn't see anything as we walked, although we heard gunfire way off in the distance. The sun started to set, but we kept walking because of fear of an ambush. The sky was pink now, so we quickly scrambled for the tents. Manny went and found wood and refilled our canteens. He waited until it was dark until he got the fire and food started, "In case the raiders could see the smoke" Manny said. This night was packaged steak and an irradiated plant with proteins in it.

"Very impressive, molisch." Dimitri said as he nodded his head.

"Hey, what's a... 'molisch' anyway?" Manny asked, attempting to sound like Dimitri.

"It means 'boy' in Russian. I'm sorry; I did not realize I was speaking in my other tongue." Dimitri said.

"It's alright. I kinda like it. Nice nickname for me, what do you think?" Manny asked him.

"Good enough for me." Dimitri grunted as he took a bite from his food.

We finished our food and went to sleep, trying to rest over Doc and Tai's constant arguing.

Joe treaded a needle through his leg as it bled onto the hospital floor and sewed it up. He shut his teeth in pain as he snipped off the last of his stitches. He got to his feet and hobbled around, grabbing at tables and walls to keep himself up. He stumbled forwards and groaned loudly as he fell over. He lifted himself up to see the reflection of himself in a mirror that was cracked from age and newly-made bullet holes. He saw a pale faced man with gray bags under his eyes and rosy cheeks with a stubble on his chin. His hair was a mess, his body covered in blood from his stitching and dirt from crawling. He still wore his sweatpants and white t shirt that the hospital gave him. He dug his hand into his pocket. He pulled out a badge that he almost forgot about. He rubbed the dirt off of it and read the description. "Megaton Sheriff" it shined to him. For once, Joe used his intuition; he thought like the sheriff he was supposed to be and looked up at his reflection. He rubbed his thumb across the badge until his wedding ring Natalie got for him almost fell off his thinning hand. He pushed it back onto his ring finger and nodded to his reflection.

He broke open the door to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, slamming the top against the counter and breaking off the cap. He took a swig of the drink as he limped over to the armory. He put the terminal password in, only to realize a grenade blast already opened a way into it already. He went inside and looked around.

It had been ransacked, the weapons and armors taken from the cabinets. The only thing left were blue jumpsuits. Joe picked one up and read the back. A yellow 101 was imprinted on it. He stared at it in silence. He dropped it back to the ground and looked outside toward the hills where a blast door sat with dozens of people inside with their secrets and plans intact as they had won another battle of trickery. His investigation had been concluded. He found someone to blame.

Joe went back into our house and looked around, resting on a chair. He spotted a backpack atop a fridge and squinted as it as he took in more whiskey. He pulled the bag down and ammunition and candies spilled on the ground. Joe raised an eyebrow at the bag as he opened it up, not realizing the intention of the household contraband. He opened it up and looked inside. My old vault jumpsuit was still inside, along with my bulletproof vest and 10 millimeter pistol. He sighed at it and stripped his hospital clothes off and donned my vault attire. He spotted a weird sight. Jellybeans and bubblegum were at the bottom of the bag, and Joe shrugged.

And as the sun set in front of him, Joe walked out of Megaton that night with a limp: feeding from a bottle of whiskey in one hand and jellybeans in the other. He headed to the hills, he headed for 101 without a plan, because that's how Joe wins: by surprising everyone, including himself.

Dimitri slept loudly in his tent, his heart was racing and a sweat was building over his large muscles. He was having a nightmare. His body twitched and he moaned angrily as if he was throwing a punch. This was normal, especially for Dimitri: this nightmare was repetitive.

"Get in the closet." His sister told him.

"Sasha, what is the mat—"

"_Delayte to, chto ya govoryu seychas!_" She said in a harsh whisper.

Dimitri bent his head down and listened to his sister. He buried himself in weird smelling coats as his sister sat at the table, her hands shaking. Dimitri peeped through cracks in the wood and spotted his front door being bashed in. A man with red hair and a beard with tattoos all over his body ran through the door with a shotgun and aimed it at Sasha. Other men flooded their home as Dimitri gasped. He breathed heavily as the men grabbed Sasha by the hair and threw her down to the floor.

"Are you alone?!" The man asked her.

"_Are you alone?!"_ He screamed at her.

"Please… I… English…" Sasha tried to communicate in their language.

"Answer me!" He shouted in her ear as he slammed his fist into their wooden table next to her and cracked it. She yelped and shut her eyes.

"I… zhivoy… living… here." She communicated in their language.

In any other situation, Dimitri would have corrected her. He learned English quite well in their town, which was something rare for the older adults that immigrated there.

"Search the house." He ordered the men.

Instantly, they tore away at their furniture and threw their food at the ground, splattering cereal and candies all over the place as their turned over the place. The leader walked towards the closet as Dimitri locked eyes with him.

"Take her with us." He told them.

The men bashed her head into the ground and lifted her up as Sasha tried to wriggle free.

"No, no!" Sasha tried to fight.

"Now you understand us, huh?!" The red haired man shouted.

Dimitri covered his mouth and tried to keep still as the leader slapped Sasha's face.

"We're leaving." Was the last thing that was heard from Dimitri that entire day. He left that closet hours later, he was too scared to move.

The dream ended with his eyes opening and him grabbing his gun in anger. He was ready to fight back, but there was nothing to fight, and so these two separate men-Joe and Dimitri-had to find something to suppress their anger, and anger so deep and scraping to their minds that they weren't just mindless brutes any longer, they were men who fought for reason: to keep themselves from going insane, or in their case, losing their final battle.


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25: Not a Kid Anymore**

I woke again to something that was unfamiliar. I heard footsteps walking towards us. I figured it was Manny, so I tried to rest as much as I could until he poked my face. Moments passed, and the footsteps only grew louder. I opened my eyes and looked at Manny in his sleeping bag; he was in a deep sleep with high pitched mumbling. I grabbed my shotgun from my side and woke Manny, poking him hard in his head. I covered his mouth so he wouldn't speak, and he just looked at me with his eyes wide open. I signaled with my hands that there was something outside. He grabbed his pistol out of his holster and pointed it outside. We slowly crept towards the zipper flap to the fence. I counted to three with my fingers, and we burst out, aiming our weapons. Raiders surrounded the camp, and were surprised that we got the jump on them. We shot the raiders that were near our tent, and they flipped onto the ground. Dimitri woke up, and had Sasha out, ready for the fight. He started yelling guttural sounds as he shot the raiders, spraying out bullets like a hose of death.

Manny and I split up to flank the remaining raiders. Doc and Tai woke up, about to argue with each other about waking them up, but they then heard the gunshots. Raiders heard us and more started coming towards us running from all sides. I started shooting the reinforcements until I ran out of ammunition, and my gun clicked. I turned towards Manny, who got punched by a raider and fell to the ground. The raider went on top of him and aimed a pistol at his head. Dimitri smacked the raider in the stomach with the large barrel of Sasha and he flew off him. Dimitri and Manny looked at each other as Dimitri pulled him up. Manny was surprised by the help and returned to battle. I reloaded my shotgun and pumped it, continuing to shoot at the raiders. Tai's hands worked fast as she shot the raiders surrounding her and Doc. They started to get outnumbered, so she gave Doc a pistol. Doc stared at it and looked at Tai who was almost out of ammo.

"Fucking shoot it!" Tai screamed at him.

Doc aimed down the sights as his arm shook. Tai's gun clicked as a raider approached them. The raider ran at him with a knife, sticking forward. The raider flew back and blood popped out of his head as Doc shot him. His mouth opened as Doc looked at his gun. He looked as if he was about to vomit, but his expression immediately changed to a malicious smile as he started shooting at more raiders.

Joe lazily dropped his empty whiskey bottle against the controls to the Vault 101 blast door. He pressed his finger on the intercom.

"It's me. Open up." Joe said in a low voice.

"It's—It's Jace." A voice said to another person on the other end, confusing Joe for me.

"Let him in." A woman's voice said through a radioed intercom.

The doors screeched open as Joe lifted the bottle back up and walked inside, his head down low. An empty paper case of jellybeans floated from his knuckles to the floor as he stepped into the vault.

Joe was not going to be the one to tell anyone how he felt when he walked inside. To be honest, he didn't even know the full story. All he knew was that he had someone to blame.

"Hey, wait a minute!" A guard yelled at Joe as he tried to stop the impostor from entering.

The guard put his hand on Joe's chest to stop him, and that was when he lifted his head to glare at the guard through his eyes. He stared into the guard and the gears in his head began to turn. The fascination with Jace, the looted armory and the kidnapping. He had enough cards to make a bet, and that's just what he did.

Joe snorted and lifted the whiskey bottle above his head and smashed it into the guards face. Joe dropped the remaining glass and stepped over the body, walking slowly into the inner parts of Vault 101.

Alarms sounded and the intercoms buzzed as Joe looked up to a security camera and sneered at it, as if he looked into Rachel's eyes directly.

"Attention citizens of Vault 101; we have been breached by outside raiders. Please barricade your houses as our security force handles the problem. Please move in an orderly fashion." Rachel said as the alarms whirred and yellow lights spun around the halls.

A group of young men in leather jackets ran at Joe as he walked alone in the halls. The leader of the gang held a switchblade and jumped at Joe. He screamed a battle cry. "TUNNEL SN—"

Joe pulled out his pistol and fired into the man's stomach. He dropped to the ground and bled to death in front of the men. They all dropped their weapons and retreated. Joe's facial expression did not change, he was stern. His forehead had three lines of creases that were seemingly pressed onto his normal face. His eyebrows were tilted down, forming an overlapping bump in between them. His eyes were in almost a squint, but they paid attention to nothing significant, not even the man he just killed.

To another man, the man he killed would have seemed familiar. But it was too early to see what the full story was. Joe was playing it by ear. He was good at that.

Joe swooped down and grabbed the switchblade off of the young man with great hair as he died. The man had a name; several of them in fact. Right now it was Chip.

Joe looked at the security camera. "RACHEL!" Joe boomed at it.

"He was your friend!" He screamed as he walked through the halls.

"You BETRAYED him!"

Joe opened the electric doors to the atrium as a group of guards ran towards him. Joe threw the switchblade at the first one and it pierced his chest as Joe shoulder-tackled him and spun him into another guard. He lifted his pistol and fired three rounds into the vest of a guard with a pistol. He dropped to the ground as Joe popped the blade from the dead guard and slapped the helmet off of a armored guard that was taken down by three bullets that went into his bulletproof vest. He stabbed his skull with the small knife and left it there as he grabbed a new pistol from the deceased man's holster.

"Please remain calm as our security forces handle the breach. Please return to your homes as soon as possible." Rachel said through the intercom.

"I know you hear this! I know you see this!" Joe shouted as he screamed an echo throughout the atrium.

Joe charged through the next door and ran through another group of guards, peppering the halls with a pistol in each hand. He fired until his guns clicked. He then lifted a 10mm submachine gun and held it in his hand as he spotted the Overseer's door. He fired a burst of bullets into the controls to the door and holstered his gun. He planted his fingers to the opening of the door and pried it open in his adrenaline rush. He groaned loudly as he opened the door and limped inside, holding his machine gun at Rachel as she backed away and wiped blood from her nose. The alarms blared in the background as Joe panted heavily, his eyes fixated on her.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked him in fear.

That set Joe off. He holstered his gun and held her by the neck, slamming her head back into the cold metal wall.

"Don't you fucking play stupid with me. I saw your jumpsuits in the armory. I was there at Megaton! I _survived_! And I'm going to kill you." Joe grunted in rage at her.

"You—don't understand. This isn't about you." She told him.

Joe slammed her body back into the wall and kept choking her. "'This isn't about me'?! They took my family, they took my friends! You—left me—_NOTHING!"_

Joe threw her into her desk and she screamed. A bone popped, but Rachel didn't know which one. She looked up pleadingly at him.

"You have to understand, Joe. I just wanted Jace. I couldn't control what that raider did. I tried to reason with him but he had his own plan, you have to understand!"

Joe sniffled. His eyes were tearing up. "He has a daughter, you know." He said in a normal voice.

She stared at him from the ground.

"And you took her from him. _He_ has her now. And he doesn't care what happens to her. But _I_ do. Now you tell me everything. You tell me where they went and why this had to happen or I swear to God, I'll kill everyone in here and lock you in this place alone." Joe threatened her.

"This vault… is special. Important things happen here that need every person involved to be here." Rachel told him.

"And Jace is a part of this?"

"Yes."

"Then answer me this…" Joe said as he leaned close to her and breathed down on the small girl's head.

"What is so important that you'd have to ruin their lives?" He asked her.

"He's part of a cycle that needs perfecting, just like me and just like the men and women you killed today." Rachel told him.

"No…" Joe told her as he backed away from her. "What you did… what you helped do. It's not worth it anymore."

"That's because you don't understand. We need him not only for us, but for his own good."

"What are you talking about?"

"You… you care about his daughter? Well she's a part of this too, whether you like it or not. And if they don't return here… I—I don't know what's going to happen to them." Rachel explained.

"You're lying." Joe told her.

"Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Rachel asked him as her hands went to the Project Legacy scanner.

Joe saw her treachery and slammed her body back away from the desk and onto the floor. For all he knew, she was about to pull a gun on him. Rachel backed away as Joe aimed his gun at her.

"GUARDS! GUARDS, HELP!" She screamed.

Guards flooded the inside of the office as Joe took cover behind the desk. They started firing into it as Joe ducked down. The bullets entered Rachel's terminal and blew it open. The Overseer's desk whirred and lifted itself off the ground, exposing Joe from his cover as the hidden passage opened up. Joe looked up at the desk as it was lifted above his head, removing his cover. He backed away as the guards aimed their weapons at him. He saw a clearing between the guards. If he could cut left he could use the machinery as cover as he escaped the office. He winced in pain and felt his stomach. Small dots of blood poured out through the vault suit. His body burned, his legs were numb and his head was light and dizzy. He breathed quickly as the guards walked closer to him. Joe fell back against the security monitors of the office and collapsed, dropping his gun to the side as machine guns were pressed against his head. He closed his eyes and blacked out.

Tai smiled and reloaded her rifle with her ammo belt. They both continued shooting more raiders. I pumped out another shell into a raider as he ran to my right. He flopped over as I pumped the action again and turned to a raider with a shield made from the rusted metal of a car door. I fired a shot into it and the thick makeshift metal took the pellets. The raider swept his shield and smacked me across the face with it, sending me onto my back. I let my shotgun slide across the dirt to my side as the raider stood above me and brought down an axe at my body. I pushed myself back and opened my legs to let the axe hack into the earth below me. I kicked my leg into his wrist and separated his right arm from his axe as I brought my legs together and kicked him in the face. I grabbed the axe from the ground as I jumped on him and hacked away at this armor plating. I hacked and hacked at the raider as I held his shield down to the ground with my knee. I stared into his eyes and roared over his screams when the axe finally hit flesh. I removed it from the tissue and brought it back down again, separating the skin and flesh. I shouted at the top of my lungs as his screams of terror grew louder and higher-pitched. I took breaths between my blows to his organs and screamed as loud as my lungs could as the axe was brought back down again. My screams of rage turned into hysterical shouts when the raider died. Still, I hacked away at his ribs and internal organs until an intense crimson replaced the bright red splatter, and even then I continued. The camp stopped fighting as the raiders were defeated. They group surrounded me as I wailed still.

"Dude… he's dead." Manny told me as the axe began to break apart from use.

I didn't care. For some reason I needed him more than dead. This specific person needed to feel everything I was doing, even though I was convinced that he couldn't anymore. My voice cracked as my throat gave out. The camp looked at each other and then at me. I needed to make sure he was dead. I needed to vent out everything at once, because deep down, I was alone. I had no support for what I was doing. It's easy to do the right thing when you're called a hero for it, but it was different now. I lost my friends and family because I took too long to finish this. I had a daughter when the world was more dangerous than ever before and I made a fake promise to keep her safe. Little did we all know I had failed that promise, because with rope tied around her small neck, she was led through the wilderness to an irradiated stronghold with everyone around her blaming me for taking too long to end this. They were abandoned by me and thus I was abandoned for it. I was resented by my best friend and wife and I had failed my child. I didn't even know how old she was, meanwhile the drunken man-child that was my best friend researched her since the day she was born. He knew more about my family than I did. He was a better father than me, and I hated him for it. I hated everything about this. Most of all, I hated the dead man below me. The axe head snapped off as it entered the chest cavity once more. I lifted the hilt up into the air and brought it down into the man's head once more and left it in there as I got off and breathed out angry grunts with my failing voice. On the verge of hysterical tears I looked worriedly at the ground and walked through the group over to my shotgun and picked it up. I lifted my head back up and looked ahead to the city as I felt something wrong. Blood seeped through my nose and onto my arm, mixing in with the blood of the raider I just maimed. I turned around to see the Special Forces look at me with expressions of disbelief. I exhaled and fell onto my back, kicking up dirt around my body.

"How do I get paid less than this guy?" Tai asked.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26: Void**

"Is everyone okay? Did anyone get hit?" Tai asked the Special Forces group as Doc ran over to my body and examined me.

Everyone looked at each other. They were all clean. Dimitri checked his body for wounds and turned around so the team could point out any wounds for him. Blood dripped from his back and out of his clothes.

"Um, Dimitri? You got shot." Manny said; confused on how he was not affected by it.

"Da, it happens." Dimitri said as he brushed himself off.

"Heat exhaustion. He needs to be watched and given water. Ich can handle this one." Doc announced as he got up from my body. Dimitri dropped his ammo box and Sasha on the floor and took off his shirt. Doc took out his medical bag and treated the wounds as Manny dumped some water on me. Doc shook as he stitched up Dimitri, and sweat dripped down his face, and looked nervously at the wound, inspecting it as he stitched it up.

"Thank you, doctor." Dimitri said.

"It is meine pleasure, truly." Doc said as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"So… now what?" Manny asked the group.

Dimitri walked over to me on the ground and dumped another water bottle on my head. When I didn't move, he picked me up and slumped me over his back.

"We must move." Dimitri told us as he walked away.

"We're not even going to talk about what this guy did?" Manny asked the group as they packed their things up.

"He's a lunatic. Can't do anything about it now." Tai told him.

"Ich agree. His mind is obviously working through something." Doc nodded.

"It takes a lunatic to know one." Dimitri muttered.

"We are done talking." Doc said sternly.

They saw nothing on our way out of the area. The city was seen clearly at that point. It seemed more destroyed than when Victoria and I saw it, we were probably busy paying attention to something else. Buildings were completely brunt down, and anything standing was barely so, having pieces of the skeleton completely broken off. The group had wasted some walking time during the fight, so we couldn't get as much distance that day.

Joe gasped the loudest inhale his body could create as a needle was brought into his chest. His face was pale and sweaty, his hair was slumped down over his eyes from moisture, with strands of brown hair clumped together in small bundles, scattered across his brow. As the blood returned to his face, he could see who was administering it. She looked at him as he sat against a wall, his chest bobbing up and down quickly as she held his head still.

"Stop breathing so quickly or you're going to have another heart attack." Rachel told him.

That didn't calm him down at all. Joe held his breath and exhaled through his nose as he tried to wretch his head free from her grasp. He forced out slow breaths until they were involuntary.

"Don't touch me." Joe wheezed.

"Fine." Rachel said as she let her hands go from his body.

Joe looked down to see blood pouring from his body. Joe gasped and tried to move, but his body wouldn't let him. Rachel placed her hands back over the wound.

"Now sit still and let me fix it." She told him.

"No…" He told her in defiance.

"I can call Andy in to fix you if you want." She suggested.

Joe glared at her.

"Exactly." She looked back down at his wounds.

Joe breathed faster again as she stitched up his old gunshot ailments. He looked at her as she cared for him.

"Why… are you doing this?" He asked weakly.

"You ruined my vault. Jace wasn't returned and Chain is keeping Sarah for his own personal reasons. You need to answer my questions if you want this problem to end."

"No… I'm done fighting you."

"You seem to forget he has your wife and your friends."

"My wife thinks I'm a loser and so do my friends. That's not something worth fighting for. Trust me, you saw me try. This is the extent, and even that was a stretch."

"Hell of a time to change your mind." Rachel stared at him with gray rings circled around her eyes, as if I child came in and painted them on for her. Rachel's hair was dry as it sat in a bun on her head. This bun needed to be fixed, as long strands of hair popped out from their confinement. Joe looked up at her. He spotted long, gray hairs all across her scalp. Her eyes were strained, as if she were staring into the sun (or a computer terminal) all her life.

"And you're right about that last part. I saw what you did and my security want you executed for it." She told him.

Joe inhaled deeply. "Then stop helping me." He said with a sigh.

"You have a lot of pride."

"It's not pride." Joe declined.

"You're right. I was being nice. It's actually stupidity."

Joe's eyelids flickered at her.

"I know you're just saying this because you hate me. I know you're going to get Sarah." She told him.

"You're wrong."

"Why is that?" She asked.

"I'm not her father."

"You're right again. Her father thinks she's safe and sound at home meanwhile she's being brought into a crumbling city where she _will_ die."

"How do you know that?" He asked her.

"I know a lot of things, Joe."

She injected another needle into him and his heart jumped.

"You have an hour to get up and leave the vault or my security team will come in here and kill you. It's your choice."

Joe inhaled through his nose. "Of course it's my choice."

"Here's your stuff. I marked your map of where they're going." Rachel shoved her hand into a zippered pocket in her jumpsuit and dropped a keycard on the ground.

"Second door on your left." She told him.

"And what exactly are you getting out of this?" He asked her.

"Right now, nothing. But eventually I'm going to come back to take the people that belong here. And if Sarah's left alive, she's going to have to come with me."

"Why do you want her?"

"I _need_ her. If I don't get her or her father, people will die." Rachel got up and walked to the end of the room. "Fifty-eight minutes." She said as she looked at her wrist-mounted computer.

The door closed, leaving Joe in the room by himself. It was a room that seemed familiar to another man, but it wasn't familiar to him. He was in my old home, but someone had apparently moved into it, or at least redecorated. A bible quote was framed and placed on a nightstand. A pen with a red rubber ball sat next to him. A toy chest with a single child's book next to it was to his left. It would be a month until a broken family would habit that place. Only a few more buttons had to be pressed.

The group set up camp. Dimitri let my body fall to the ground as Doc checked my pupils. Manny went over and gave me water. I began to choke on it and wake up. I backed away, slapped the canteen away and kicked Manny in the face. I got to my feet and ran at him as Tai and Doc held me back. I fell back onto my hands and rear and looked at the group. They had awoken me from a dream where I was drowning. Manny held his face on the ground as the team looked at me.

"What?" I asked them.

I got to my feet. "Where's Amata?" I asked them as I stepped away.

I looked at my surroundings again.

"W—Where am I?" I asked them. The group stared at me in silence.

"Did I fall asleep in class?" I continued.

"Mr. Brotch! Mr. Brotch, can you hear me?!" I yelled to escape my haze.

Doc held my arm. "It's okay, jus—"

"No, don't worry, my dad's the doctor, he can fix this." I assured him that my wounds were nothing as I walked away. My nose began to bleed again and I wiped it from my face and looked at it. I turned around, out of breath.

I took a deep breath in and exhaled. "What are you people looking at?" I asked them as I reloaded my shotgun. "Loot the bodies, pack up the tents, we have to keep moving." I told them.

"What the hell, dude?!" Manny asked on the ground.

I stared inquisitively at him. "Did he get hit in the fight?" I asked as I walked over to him and looked at him.

"You broke my fucking nose, dude!" Manny screeched.

"What are you talking about?" I argued with him.

"A—I—I—Ah, WHAT?!" Manny was flabbergasted that I had already forgotten.

Dimitri yanked me away from Manny and held me down as Doc walked over to me.

"What's wrong with him, Doctor?" He asked.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I shouted at him.

"He just awoke from a coma. There will always be confusion. Give him water." Doc told him.

"Is water the only thing you have in that medical bag?" Dimitri asked him.

I tried to break free from the grapple from the large man. "Coma?! What are you people talking about, let me go!" I ordered Dimitri.

Doc nodded at him and I slipped free from Dimitri.

"Are you people out of your goddamn minds?! Do you think we have the time for this shit? We already wasted the morning with that ambush, an—"

I looked up at the sky and realized that the sun was not rising, in fact, it was setting. I squinted at it with my mouth open and looked around. There were no dead raiders; we were not in the same camp I thought we were in.

"My nose… is off my body!" Manny whined as Doc bent down to him and reset it.

"AAAAAARGHH!" Manny shouted.

"Keep your voice down, the town wall is right there." Tai shushed him. I wondered how we already got there.

"Are you kidding me? Why am_ I _being yelled at?!" Manny argued.

"I like him when he's like this." Dimitri chuckled.

"What… what's going on?" I asked them as I stared at the city wall.

"This is ridiculous." Tai sighed.

Doc looked at me. "You had a heat stroke—"

"And you friggen broke my nose!" Manny yelled.

"Who's hungry?" Dimitri asked us.

"I regret coming with you people…" Manny moaned.

Joe's body was numbed from the syringe and he brought his body up slowly, panting and holding his breath to use his muscles to lift himself up. He threw himself to his feet and fell onto a table with a baseball bat and his backpack. He put the map inside and checked it for his weapons: none. He searched the drawers slowly, ripping them open to see what was inside: A red baseball cap and a picture of a man and his child. The drawer below that was a Vault Boy bobblehead. He closed that drawer and checked the next one. An old BB gun was in there and Joe sighed as he lifted it up. He checked to see if there were BBs inside. When the receiver was jammed shut, Joe put it back, some spring inside of the toy gun needed to be replaced. "This is just stupid." He told himself. Whoever lived here was useless to him, he thought. But no one did, not yet, at least.

Joe spotted the first aid kit attached to the wall that Rachel used to heal him. That was also just as useless. Joe backed away and wiped sweat from his face. His heel bumped against the toy chest. He had nothing else to try so he lifted the chest open. He grabbed at the first thing his eyes found: a child's book. "You're SPECIAL" was the title. Joe dropped it to the ground, silently dismissing the useless object and turned away to leave with a limp. He grabbed at the keycard Rachel left for him and remembered where to go from the exit. His muscles were raw now, the medicines starting to give. He adjusted the pack on his back and dragged himself against the cold metal wall until he saw Rachel staring into a room. She turned to him.

"This is what happens without Sarah or Jace. We need them for people like to me to get better, the adults here won't live without them." She told him.

Joe looked inside the room full of doctors as a woman lay on a cot. She was pregnant, in her late stages, and her heart rate was being monitored on a station to her left, with an Asian woman watching it.

"There's a strong chance this baby may not survive the birth, Catherine." She told her.

Her husband gripped her shoulder and held her head to his chest. He patted his wife and held her close as she wept into his arms.

"Why are we watching this?" Joe asked Rachel quietly.

"Is there anything we can do, Madison?" The father asked the doctor.

"We'll talk later privately." She told him.

"Why aren't you doing something?" Joe asked Rachel as she stood there and watched.

"Because there's nothing I can do. My time's almost up." She answered as she turned to him.

Blood left her nose and her eyes shut for a moment as she stepped back. "It's fun to think I want Jace or Sarah for a nefarious purpose, isn't it? My people are dying. _I'm_ dying."

Rachel sniffled blood. "This is your fault. That baby's going to die because of you." She pointed at him.

"No. You're insane, just like your father." Joe accused her.

"Things seem crazy when you don't understand them." Rachel stared at him. "But without Jace or Sarah, and with those people you killed… people have to die. That's how this vault works. They need to be replaced; they're part of a perfect scientific cycle, and it's been broken. For every person who dies, another must go with them."

"Get away from me." Joe slumped past her and limped away.

"If you want that family to live without a legacy you'll bring me who I need. Unless you only care about yourself." She baited him.

"I do care about myself. And when I have no other reason to, I'll end it. But that's not going to happen now." He said with conviction as he limped away and left the hallway as an Asian woman in a doctor coat walked past him with her team of doctors. She was crying, which did not seem professional, but this situation was different. She just gave her friends the worst news she could ever give.

He used the keycard on a door and walked through a hallway where a locker was waiting for him. He opened it up and checked inside. Joe found two plastic explosives and a detonator, and nothing else. He put them into his pack and held the detonator in his hand. He turned around and began to shift forward.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27: Out of Body Experience**

Raiders in bulletproof vests over their scrap metal army led a caravan of slaves down the cracked roads of D.C. a mother walked with her hands bound in front of her as her four year old did the same next to her. Her tiny, stubby legs struggled to move at the adult pace of the rest.

"Please… let me carry her." Victoria asked the raider calmly.

"If you move out of the line I'll kill you. We know who you are and we're not about to let you try to get out of this." The raider warned her.

"There's an army of you. What do you think I'm going to do? Throw my daughter at you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. Your kind are the type to be desperate." The raider shrugged.

And that daughter soon toppled over either from the burning heat of the sun or just exhaustion. Victoria rushed over to her and stopped the entire line of people as she tried her best to get her up. The raiders aimed their weapons at them as she looked at her sweating daughter.

"DON'T TOUCH US!" She screamed hysterically at them as the bandits crept closer with their weapons. She took a breath and looked at her daughter. The town looked at her sudden outburst. She composed herself and pushed a piece of her away from her eyes.

"You two seem like the dramatic type." A raider told her.

The leader called off his dogs. Victoria looked up at the man with the road sign armor and tried to force a brave face at him.

"Do you know who I am?" The leader asked.

"I can't believe you asked that question." She shook her head in disgust at him.

"I take that as a yes." He sighed.

She stroked back her daughter's beautiful, shining hair and swallowed hard.

"Don't make that face. You people did this to yourselves." Chain glared.

"You kidnapped me and my daughter and almost killed everyone in this town. What did we do to you to deserve this?"

"Jesus…" Chain scoffed.

"You women are delusional." He stared at her.

"Get moving." He told her as he walked away. The line of beaten and weary people slugged along down the line to the fortified and dangerous city of D.C.

Joe tripped walking out of the tunnel from 101 and fell roughly on his shoulder, shouting in pain. For some reason he couldn't feel his right arm after that but that didn't matter, he had a mission. He moaned on the ground and crawled up to his feet, jogging away past an old sign with the words "Scenic Overlook" on it. He had minimal control of his feet, and he tumbled onto the ground, rolling down the hill from the vault. He fell onto his back and coughed roughly, gasping for air after the hacking was done. He pulled out his map from the ground, remembering what Rachel told him. He stared at the corner of it and shook his head. A tear rolled down his swollen cheek as he stared at a red circle of the D.C. ruins. I'm not sure whether he cried from all the wounds, or that he was the only person who knew their fate-and his own. But a fight was promised, and Joe wasn't one to abandon one of those. He lifted himself up and continued forward with a limp, little did he know he will find this situation giving him déjà vu in the future. He stared towards the horizon as the sun set. He looked miles away to a large pointed building: The Washington Monument. He breathed heavily and felt his newly cared for wounds. To his left were the remainders of Megaton, his home, the place that gave him everything and helped take it away. But Joe was used to having nothing; he was used to being alone. It made him stronger; it gave him a will to fight because, secretly, he didn't want to be alone. He needed his friends and family because without them there wouldn't be Joe. These people gave him life and now he was going to save theirs, even with the wounds that plagued his body. This heroic outburst was ended abruptly when Joe fell out of consciousness whilst standing up.

Eventually Manny calmed down and bandaged his nose while he reluctantly cooked us food from his pack. Tonight he cooked us noodles with mutfruit.

"I had no idea you were actually soldiers." Dimitri told us.

"I'm glad this guy shot that raider, otherwise you wouldn't be saying that." Tai said, looking at Doc.

"Change the subject." Doc said as he ate.

"Who gave you these rations, Manny?" Tai asked.

"No one did, I found this when scavenging." Manny said with his nose closed.

"Impressive, molisch. You seem to have a true talent." Dimitri said.

"Thanks, big guy." Manny said. Dimitri smiled.

"I haven't seen a good a shot as you, Tai, especially for a guard. Why did you stay a guard, and not go onto some mercenary work? I'm pretty sure Springvale needs someone dead every day." Manny asked Tai.

"I learned to shoot on my own, not in training in Springvale. Something happened, and now I'm like this. I just wanted to help people, so I became a guard. It's the best thing I could do, since being a mercenary means I'll have to kill anyone, regardless of what they did or didn't do." Tai said.

"What happened to you?" Manny asked.

Tai blinked for a split second and heard a scream. She opened her eyes and turned to see a woman get pushed to the ground. She was hungry and her face was grey and sick. A raider lifted her up to her feet as Tai stood still, her arms bound by rope. They were being brought along with several other people to a podium. Someone pushed Tai forward and she stumbled forward. She couldn't bring her tied hands forward, so she fell face first into the ground. She heard a gasp to her side as Tai got to her feet. The man grabbing her pulled her arm to the stage as many men and women walked alongside them. Rope was tied to her neck but it was left loose. She looked down to her chest and saw a sign hanging from her. "200 dollars", it said in scribbled pencil. The sun was high and beating down on their faces. Tai's long hair was stuck to her face in strands.

"Don't worry… I've got a plan." The girl next to her muttered in a broken voice. Her sign was for a higher price.

Now shoulder to shoulder with each other, the auction began as the men around them held rifles in their hands.

"What's your plan?" Tai asked her.

Tai noticed she was crying. Her face was red and her short hair was mangled like she had just gotten out of bed. She sniffled and held her head down.

"C-Can you do me a favor?" She asked Tai.

"What's the matter?" Tai asked.

"Can you just listen…?" She asked her quietly.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a hole in the fence behind you, turn around and it's at your three." She told Tai. "Make sure that guy on your left isn't looking at you when you run." Tai glanced over to him as he looked to the crowd of auctioneers.

"The five-hundred!" A man shouted to the stage.

Tai looked down. A sign hung around her partner's chest, "Five hundred dollars."

She stepped down the stage slowly as she looked over to Tai.

"Make sure you focus on your core. Your stomach's soft." She told Tai as she hopped off the stage.

"Lin, wait, WAIT!" Tai begged as she stepped out of line to keep her from leaving.

"Please don't' do this!" Tai sobbed.

"Uh, fine. I'll take the two hundred, too." The auctioneer sighed.

Lin looked over her shoulder as if she was betrayed. The raiders grabbed Tai's shoulders and helped her off the stage. Tai ran to her and held her head on Lin's shoulder.

"Remember that fence." Lin whispered as she back away and elbowed the auctioneer in the head and looped her arms around his neck. The raiders jumped alive and aimed at Lin and her body shield. A panic was ignited and people began to run and give the firefight some room. Tai backed away with the crowd and turned to the fence to escape. She ducked through it and sprinted away. She remembered how easy it was to leave her, and how little it mattered that the next few gunshots were fired. But then, it was as if her whole world was over. But now, she accepted that it was completely and utterly, over. She had a crush on her, but she kept that a secret. She was gathering the courage to tell her, but she never got that chance. She was her best friend, and that was the bottom line. She never would know if Lin felt anything other than that. I wouldn't have mattered, nothing would have come from it, Tai thought. She wouldn't have been able to take care of her; after all, they were almost sold to other humans. That's not what a strong person can do. But now she was stronger, she kept her hair short so the sweat wouldn't blind her with sticky pieces of hair, her arms loaded for a fight and her eyes ready for anything to try and take her again. She pushed herself to the limit, as if that would make up for her cowardice in Lin's time of need. Tai made sure that if she could go back in time to when she left Lin, that she would get them both out of there so she can finally tell her she loved her. So she can make her mind up and do things the right way, because, in her mind, what she did that day was wrong.

"I'm sorry for prying, Tai." Manny kept his head down low.

"Don't worry about it." Tai told him.

The camp looked at me for a moment, waiting for something. I got up and walked to my tent.

"Go to bed." I told them.

"You're an asshole." Tai told me.

I stopped walking and turned back to her. She looked up at me defiantly.

"You're supposed to be the professional one." I reminded her.

"Something tells me I'm not going to have the chance to tell you this after we're in that city wall, so I'm letting you know now. I hate you."

"You sound like a child, you realize that, right?"

"_Do I sound like your _child? I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't sound like _everyone_ in your life."

"Fine. _Fine_. You know what, you're right. You're not going to have the chance to tell me what you want when we're in there, because you're on a suicide mission, all of you are going to die and I'm going to survive, because I'm more important than you are and I always have been. So say what you guys want to say now, go on, get it off your chests, some of you may die tomorrow and no one's going to bat an eyelash because you're supposed to be grown-ups in a grown-up world. So let's hear it!"

Tai got up and looked at me.

"You're not grown-up, Jace. You just think you have something better to do with your life because this is _your_ story. As long as you think that, you're going to be as alone as you are now. But you're right about one thing; we all may die tomorrow, and I'm hoping you remember this conversation when we do."

"Anything else?" I asked the camp.

They were silent.

"Good, because that two minute conversation just kept me from doing my job."

I walked away into my tent and fell asleep easily. On that note, they all went to bed.

I had a flash of a memory that was new to me. I remember leaving my home with a bloody nose and exiting the town, my wife's angered shouts echoing in my head as my ears felt like I was in a wind tunnel. My body drew me closer to Vault 101 for some reason, and then my brain changed inside. I had flashbacks to my younger years in there. For some reason they felt like someone else's memories, like I had a dream from someone else's point of view. My legs propelled me forward as the blood dried on my upper lip. I tried forward and fell down on the ground. I lifted myself up and looked to see lit torches of a nightly caravan of people moving like fireflies. I got up and followed them for some reason. Then, I remembered that reason. I recognized the face of a man who was prevalent to my life since my birth, and even before that. I walked slowly towards him and grabbed him from the night like death does the young out here. I kept his mouth from screaming as all my thoughts revolved around him at once. I was angry, but not in the right frame of mind to express that to him. I somehow had overpowered him in my blind haze and threw him to the ground. He tried to let out a scream to his men as I muffled his screams with my hand. I grinded my teeth as he moaned. I took his ripper and used the powered off blade to slowly slash against his skin, ripping it open slightly. I took my shirt off and tied it around his mouth tightly, leaving my torso exposed. I then took my pants to bind his hands. Then I used my socks to tie up his feet. With all my might, I dug my hands into the earth and tore away at it like a feral dog. I dug a hole, muttering to myself and leaving the raider confused. I grabbed him by a stop sign attached to his chest and rolled him into the hole. He began to scream muffled begs for mercy as my nose bled more.

"My baby girl… deserves more..." I muttered to him as I looked down at him.

I held my dirt-covered finger to my mouth and looked at him.

Now naked except for my underwear, I packed dirt over his body until the sun began to rise. I walked away, the job half-finished, until I fell to the ground and passed out. Little did I know this would have started a war.

I woke up without Manny's annoying poking the next day and packed up the tents. We continued walking towards the city, silent for the first few minutes of walking.

"So, what's it like in the city, Manny?" Tai asked finally, breaking the silence.

"The buildings in the center of the city are completely demolished. Buildings farther away are intact, somewhat." Manny said.

"So that's where the raiders are, then?" Tai asked.

"Yep. Have to make sure we stay away from the center of town, there's too much radiation." Manny said.

"There might be some feral ghouls there, too." Tai added.

"Feral ghouls?" Manny asked confused by how Tai knew more than him.

"Normal ghouls are only so because they're subject to a steady amount of radiation for a short time. Feral ghouls are when they've stayed in a small amount of radiation and never left it. I've seen a few of them around my old town. I've never seen a person sit in a huge amount of radiation for a long time, and I don't ever want to." Tai said to him.

"Let's hope we don't see those." Dimitri said.

Manny gathered some lunch for us by shaving away some bark from a plant in the ground. The bark was black, but the inside of the plant was bright orange and leaked juices. Manny ate from the plant.

"How long have you been doing this, molisch?" Dimitri asked.

"I've always liked the outdoors since I was a kid; there wasn't much to do in Megaton so I just spent my time out here. I kinda took this job because of Jace. I used to hear stories about you when I was little. I heard you took on raiders every day and survived by using the wilderness." Manny said.

"No, I didn't. I just spent my time being sucked into things that I have no control of and now I helped someone else get sucked into this, too. You should have just opened up a restaurant instead of wasting your time here."

Tai snapped her head over to me, wanting to argue.

"This food is good, I'm impressed that a boy can find food and make it so taste good." Doc said, trying to prevent another shouting match.

"Thanks, Doc. It was an idea that I made when we were traveling. I'm glad it tastes good, because we're out of meat." Manny said.

"Great. I love bad news." I nodded.

"I'm sure you're used to it." Tai mumbled.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28: Capital  
**

"Come on, honey…" Victoria helped her tired daughter up some stairs as the raiders took them into the city.

Her daughter didn't respond. She stopped talking days ago after she awoke from a heat induced slumber.

"Where are you taking us?" Victoria asked the raiders.

"Where do you think?" A raider responded.

"And where is everyone else?" She asked.

"What are you talking about now?" The raider sighed, acting like her husband.

"This isn't the whole town, we're missing people. What did you do with them?" Victoria asked as she lifted up her daughter and carried her down the streets of the city.

The raider smiled. "You're right, this isn't the whole town. Some of you thought it was smart to fight us, if you already didn't realize." The raider smiled at her ever wider. "If it makes you feel any better, I can tell you they're still in Megaton. They're probably being pecked apart by vultures."

Victoria looked at him. "W-What?"

"What do you think happened? What are you, stupid?" The raider asked as he brought the captives towards a large building.

"Get in." Chain instructed the survivors of Megaton. Veronica ran towards Chain and the raiders held their weapons to her head.

"Where's Joe?!" She yelled at him.

"Who?" Chain asked.

"What did you do to Joe?!" She shouted.

Chain shrugged. His face was tired, underneath all that armor was an aged man, a man surprisingly older than anyone Veronica had ever met.

Natalie walked slowly up the stairs into the building, her head down and compliant with the raiders.

"Natalie!" Victoria ran to her.

"What happened to Joe?" She pleaded for an answer.

Natalie looked up at her for a second and silently walked into the building. Victoria was grabbed and brought into their base, a fortress of raiders and barricades. Victoria remembered what happened during the attack and refused to expect that Joe met his doom. She felt that that wasn't Joe, Joe wouldn't have died like that. He wouldn't have fought back, that just wasn't him. But it was, and that was still him. Joe limped down the roads with his hands to himself, his eyes staring at the Washington Monument, with one last battle firing up inside him. Victoria sat her daughter down inside and sat by herself. Natalie had already done the grieving and now it was Victoria's turn. The only thing in her mind was the last conversation with Joe. The words she said to him echoed in her head as she knew she couldn't fix what she told him now. She stroked her daughter's hair as she rested her tired, tiny body in her mother's lap.

Victoria had turned her back away from her best friend. She hated him and he hated her, but for some reason, she missed him, even after all he had done. He was lower than her in her eyes because he refused to see things the way she did, he refused to see the world as it was; a Wasteland. But once again, that wasn't Joe. He didn't see the world for what it was and that's what made him different than everyone else, that's what Natalie saw in him and that's why Victoria kept him around as her friend. She needed him, because without him she wouldn't have what she had; a husband who needed Joe to realize he wanted to marry her, a daughter that is still alive because Joe realized he was the only person who could save her, and a best friend who didn't ask for anything in return, just their faces to light up when they saw him. She saw that as childishness, not optimism, because these two were contrasts. She was a pessimist and he was a light in the darkness. But now she had nothing except a little girl in her arms and the end goal for her husband's obsession: the man who ruined everything in their lives. He was there at her fingertips and she hadn't cared about it until now. He was an old man now, she thought. He wasn't capable of something like this. But Victoria couldn't see people for who they were, that was a flaw she had and will continued to have. She hated Joe for one reason and one reason only. He was the person Sarah needed the most in her life, because this life was going to be harsh and sad, and there was only one man who cared enough to brave these feelings with her until the bitter, bitter end.

"What are we doing with them now?" A red-haired man asked the leader.

"If the vault wants them so bad, they're going to follow us here. Something tells me more will follow them. Two birds, one stone. And all that's left is a bunker full of tech, and us." Chain explained.

The building was large and expansive. What was meant to be built as a two story building was a project that was never to be completed. Makeshift construction benches lay scattered with projects and blueprints left there, never to be finished by the minds that thought of them. Ripsaws with their jagged teeth sat half-way cut into wood. Metal chains used to hold heavy things up were detached and lying loosely all over along with discarded food. The building reeked of sweat, spoilage and dust. The upper floor of the building was in the early processes of being started, so the only thing built was the wooden foundation and catwalks for the constructors to finish their large project. Stairs were built but not completed so the stone work lay scattered in block form around the base of the stairs that led nowhere. The captives were herded to the corner of the room where fires were lit by the raiders that have clearly been staying there for a while. They gave stern, cold looks to them as the returning raiders kept them still. Guards were issued to them and watched the group with unpleasant looks. Natalie stayed away from the dense group of people as they flooded into the hall. She sat against the wall silently and looked through the floor, her mind thinking everything, or just nothing. Victoria stared at her for a moment, and then her daughter. She blinked and went to go get her water.

The men around my campfire nodded and ate the rest of the steak. We went to sleep and awoke the next day, ready to enter the city. We all woke up easily, probably because we were so close to ending this. We packed up and walked towards the city. Manny pointed out a sewer grate at the side of a wall. We took out our radiation suits that were neatly and carefully packed away and put them on over our clothes. Dimitri looked like a giant yellow blob with his suit on. I saw Manny chuckle, but no one could hear him. I told everyone where the radio intercom was on the suit, so they could talk.

"Alright, guys, this is it. If you guys get a tear in your suit, tell Doc, he has some medicine that will help." I instructed them as I walked to the entrance of the tunnel grate.

"You _have_ the Radiation medicine, right?" I turned to him.

"_Ich am not stupid_." Dock glared at me as he shoved the liquid blood bags to my chest harshly, making me stumble back.

"Just get the grate open." I ordered. Dimitri cleared a larger hole that we could slip through by bending the old metal out of the way.

Doc took out a Geiger counter, so he could tell us when it's safe to take the suits off. The sewer tunnel was cramped, and we moved slowly through it. Doc glared at the back of my head as we walked through, and his mind thought up a past memory.

He lifted a bunch of supplies onto his bed, inside his home. Sun poked through his porch, he would lived in a luxurious area, if it weren't for the charred trees and dead earth surrounding his town. He heard his door open but he didn't listen to it. He breathed quickly and his arms shook as he packed food into a backpack along with a few books and water.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked him in his German tongue.

Doc swallowed hard and turned around to see a man who looked similar to him. He had glasses and clean cut hair.

"I'm going to find her." Doc responded.

"Do you really think that's a smart idea?"

"I AM NOT STUPID!" Doc shouted at the top of his lungs. For some reason, he had struck a nerve in Doc, as if someone had been plucking at it for years with a needle.

Papers and supplies slipped form Doc's hands as he attempted to crowd all of his studies around him.

The man stared at him and then the papers. He sighed and picked one up.

"Can you read this?" He asked Doc as he put the paper in front of him.

"You… you aren't going to make me look like a fool anymore. You're not a good man."

"You wrote this, didn't you?" He asked Doc as he looked at a bunch of squiggling lines that meant nothing. "If no one knew any better they'd think you're crazy, not illiterate." Doc looked down at his writing. "But Anna is different. She _is_ crazy. And that's why she had to leave. She doesn't belong." He told Doc.

Doc stared at him for a moment and dropped his papers. The man held a paper in front of him in a condescending matter towards Doc. Doc, with all his might, threw a punch straight at his brother. He stumbled off to the side and crashed into a wall. He leaned against it and held a bloody lip as Doc breathed heavily at him.

"You're not a man. You're a coward. I may not be as smart as you but at least I have a heart."

He stared into Doc's vigorous eyes. "You're right, you've got a heart. But you've lost your mind."

"And you've lost another brother." Doc picked his things up and left his home for a journey with no visible end. He had defected against his brother, his family, his town, all to chase a girl. This would prove to be a foolish and dangerous journey for anyone in the future, but in this day, the mind is never as powerful as the heart. He would look for Anna until it seemed like he would give up, that the leads were _misleading_, and the only thing to do is explore the places Anna would go. She loved history, not math. She loved walking with him, not studying to improve her literacy like the town wanted; she loved Doc, and not his brother.

We walked through the sewers slowly. "It is disgusting in here." Dimitri pointed out.

"How do you think I felt when I went through here the first time? I didn't even have protection against whatever I'm stepping in right now!" Manny exclaimed. Dimitri chuckled softly as he imagined it.

"It's most likely irradiated shit." Dimitri said deeply.

The sewer had sticky black goo dripping everywhere. As we walked, we heard Doc's Geiger counter tick faster and faster as we walked, and the goo got glossier until it almost glowed.

"How long do we have to stay in this tunnel?" Tai asked Manny.

"It should start opening up soon. Then we'll have some room. There's a ladder leading up into the city soon after that." Manny explained.

"Good." Tai responded.

As Manny had said, the small tunnel opened up into a larger tunnel and we didn't have to walk in a line anymore. Manny led us ahead, remembering the path towards the city. I noticed that the black goo glowed in the dark a little bit as we walked. I pointed it out.

"It's the radiation, we should hurry up." Doc said.

"No shit." Dimitri responded. Doc sighed angrily.

We walked faster through the tunnel, eager to get out of this waste. Manny stopped walking without warning, and we almost tripped over him.

"What is it, what's the problem?" I asked.

Manny didn't respond. He stared forward with his mouth open. We all looked forward. There was a giant shadow of a man staring at us. We could barely see him in the shadows, but the man looked tall and extremely muscular. I didn't understand why he was out here, especially without protection. He breathed heavily, like he's been running for days. He didn't speak, only breathed heavily towards us. I decided to speak to him, to end the awkward staring.

"Hello? Are you all right? We have a doctor; he could help you if you're hurt." I said. And this man did sound hurt. He was almost choking on something, it may have been his own tongue.

Doc nudged at my back and I turned around. His Geiger counter was ticking at a lightning fast rate, and rose faster. He pointed behind us and showed me 5 more men, who looked exactly like the first man, towering, shirtless, and muscular. We turned back to the man in front of us slowly, trying not to startle them. The man then walked forward into the light so we could see him. His face was an orange-green and mutilated and he shook like he was being strangled to death. His mouth foamed and coughed up saliva. He opened his mouth and roared at us.

The irradiated men behind us screamed and ran at us. Dimitri ran up to the man in front of us and grappled him.

"Go, I'll be right behind you!" Dimitri yelled as he battled the mutant.

I shook Manny as he stared at Dimitri and yelled at him to run. He snapped into reality and started sprinting. I asked Manny where the exit was loudly, the noise echoing and probably alerting more. He pointed to a ladder and we all sprinted to it. Doc went up the ladder and then Tai. I started to climb it and saw Manny turn around. I slid down the ladder and ran to him. I grabbed him.

"He needs my help!" Manny yelled.

"Shut up and get up the fucking ladder, you dipshit!" I shouted. I pulled at Manny's waist and forced his small, easily moved body into the ladder where he smacked against the metal. His arms grabbed the bars above him and he began to pull himself up reluctantly. Manny turned towards the tunnel where he left Dimitri as he climbed. I went up the ladder and pulled myself up.

It looked like we were in a building, as it was dark and I couldn't feel a breeze. Doc and Tai panted, falling over and looking at the sewer ladder. Manny turned towards the ladder and waited as he panted. We waited there for 10 minutes, and then 10 more, but no sign of Dimitri. Manny sat on the floor and looked down. I looked at him and sighed, and walked up to him. I put my hand on his shoulder as he looked down.

"Manny, we've got to-"

We started to hear noises coming from the sewer. Manny looked up at the ladder quickly. A bald man crawled out, panting and wheezing in his yellow suit. He slung Sasha to the floor and rolled over onto his back, coughing as bullets from his bullet belt spilled on the ground. I called for Doc, and he sprung up nervously.

"His suit is torn; he's been taking in radiation." Doc informed us.

"Then do something!" Manny yelled.

"I-I..." Doc stared intensely at him as his hands shook.

"Doc, come on, you've got to do something!" Manny shouted.

"I-Ich don't know how." Doc said as he picked up the liquid.

"You just inject it!" Manny yelled as Dimitri choked loudly and grabbed at his veiny arms like they were being picked apart by flesh eating bugs.

"It's not that simple!" Doc yelled at him.

Doc stared at Dimitri, and their eyes locked. Dimitri looked pleadingly at the doctor, but all he could do in return was squint and shake his head. At that moment Dimitri knew something we didn't.

Doc had no medical training.

His position in Megaton was given to him not off of merit, but from being the only 'doctor' in the town who wanted to set off into the D.C. ruins.

"Ich don't know." Doc told himself.

"I-WHAT?! You're nickname is 'Doc', fucking do something!" I shouted.

"You just have to..." Doc started to mumble to himself as he nervously took out his medical pack and took out tubes and rubber bands. Doc then stuck a needle Dimitri's arm. Doc then put tubing into the needle's end and fed the tubing to the pack, wrapping Dimitri's arm in bands. Dimitri vomited off to the side and coughed. Doc held him still as Dimitri took in the yellow liquid.

"What is that stuff?" Manny asked.

"It's your medicine for the radiation. We... we have to wait until it works." Doc said as he wiped his forehead of sweat.

We all rested for a short time as we waited for the medicine to work. Manny sat next to Dimitri and waited for him to get up. I wanted to tell them that the medicine might not work, but I couldn't tell that to Manny. We waited in the building, and sat there as Dimitri rested. No one said a word to each other. Dimitri breathed heavily and rested on his back, mumbling to himself in Russian. If that medicine doesn't work, then Dimitri could die from the amount of radiation that was down there, and we had to sit there and watch. We waited there for two hours now. I had to tell Manny. I walked over to him. I stopped walking as I saw Dimitri cough and open his eyes. We couldn't see his face clearly in the suit, only his eyes. He looked at Manny.

"Hello, molsich." Dimitri said quietly.

Everybody got up and went to Dimitri.

"All you alright, do you feel any different?" I asked.

"I feel fine." Dimitri said.

"Who were those guys?" Tai asked.

"Those... _things_... were not men." Dimitri told me.

"They were what I feared. _Super Mutants_." Dimitri said.

"The radiation down there must have killed them when they were human. Instead of decomposing, they grew from the massive amount of radiation and were resurrected. They use it as nourishment as it destroys them." Doc said.

"Or they could have been a part of an evil experiment inside a bomb shelter and left to the world as an infected, breeding, malicious hunter as the virus inside them changes more in their breeding grounds." Manny nodded.

"I like my theory better." Dimitri mumbled.

Manny nodded sadly at his rejected hypothesis.

"I'm glad you're all right, big guy." Manny said.

"I am too." Dimitri said as he got up.

Dimitri and I locked eyes and he blinked slowly as he got up.

Doc checked his Geiger counter and said it was safe ahead. We took off our radiation suits and put them away. The building that we were in was pitch black and cold. We saw a door off to the side, slightly blocked by rubble, and tried it. The door was jammed and couldn't open. Dimitri kicked it down, knocking over dust and the rubble around, letting us continue through the building. Charred pieces of wood covered the floor, and the building smelled of smoke. The building was bigger than I realized, and spacious. We walked to a spiraling staircase and got Dimitri to move random debris out of the way. We then walked upstairs and to the next door. We turned towards a desk that had skeletons laying over it. I inspected the building more and saw giant holes everywhere, with sunlight seeping through them. Dimitri also saw more skeletons on the floor and draped over railings.

"Be respectful here. This is a gravesite." Dimitri said. I turned over and saw Manny who was kicking one of the skeletons. He stopped and looked at me.

"Sorry." He said quickly to us.

We walked out of the building and into the streets. We inspected the buildings around the area. They were taller than anything I've ever seen. They all had damage from the nukes on them which included blast areas in the buildings and blown off sides of the square shaped apartments. We all stared up at the colossal buildings as we walked.

"Do you know where you're going?" I asked Manny.

"Seems familiar. I remember how to find the place we're looking for. Just need to look for the Washington Monument, it's down the street from it." Manny said to me.

We continued walking down the street until Manny spotted the Washington Monument again. He pointed out the tower to us and we stared up at it. What used to be an impressive stone statue was blown to bits and crumbling. Although its tall height was still impressive, the pillar of the city seemed like it was on its knees. The innards of the construction were exposed as age and war tore it apart. It symbolized the heart of the city: a beaten and destroyed beacon. A beacon not of hope, but of a physical warning of what the city would bring to us. We turned down the street and continued walking towards it. We heard gunfire off in the distance.

"Sounds like the raiders are having problems with their neighbors; that could be helpful for us." Tai nodded.

We walked down the streets and saw all the buildings in the city. Those giant complexes were everywhere, and so were the debris. Blown up and large pieces of metals were everywhere. Abandoned cars were scattered out all over the street and in some cases inside buildings as if they were thrown into them.

"Think of what we can accomplish if someone could make a town here." Doc said as he stared at the tall buildings.

"They wouldn't be able to last out here with the radiation and Super Mutants, although it would be great." Tai agreed.

A street was cut off by a street full of cars, so we all got together and moved them out of the way. The area that we opened up to looked like a fort. We wandered around the tiny fort and looked for supplies, as it was completely abandoned, and it had been for years. Manny started to scavenge around, picking up toys and discarded food containers.

"Hey guys, look! A Captain Cosmos toy!" Manny smiled as he picked up a plastic, small toy of a man, holding a tiny, high-tech pistol, and wearing a large metal helmet. Manny then took off a monkey attached to his shoulder, one with a matching circular helmet.

"Manny, stop goofing around." I told him.

"But I can make the monkey have the gun!" Manny smiled a she placed the pistol in the toy monkey's hand. I took the monkey away from him and threw it against the metal walls made from stacked cars.

Manny silently looked at me as he placed the Captain on the ground. We heard a clinking noise near us, and it made us all look up.

"What was that?" Tai asked.

"It was the little baby toy I threw." I calmed everyone as Manny found another Captain Cosmos toy in a food bag.

"It's not for babies. It had a gun." Manny whined in a mumble.

We heard more noises behind us from the entrance that we made. We turned around to see a group of ghouls looking at us, rasping slowly through their skinny, rotting throats. They looked malnourished and anorexic, and their eyes spread forward from their skulls. They stared at us and bent forward, we could see their bones popping out from their skin. We got up and looked at them. This time, I pumped my shotgun and aimed it at them.

"Who are you?" I asked.

They just stared at us, they all looked angry for some reason.

"Answer me, dammit!" I commanded.

More ghouls showed up, all looking similar. Their clothes looked like they fit them loosely. They were draped on, some cut up and bloody, some without anything covering them.

"Who are you people?" I yelled as everyone behind me took out their weapons.

More and more ghouls started to show up, until they started to arrive by fives.

"Dimitri, clear another path out of here. Hurry." I ordered without turning around.

More ghouls showed up. I couldn't count the amount that showed up at the fort. They all just stared at us. Dimitri pushed another car out of the way. All the ghouls in the area flexed their hands and arms towards us and hissed at the grating sound of metal across the pavement. They had claws where fingernails should be. They shouted in an incredibly raspy voice, like they ran out of water and were being strangled. All the ghouls sprinted at us at once. We fired at them, until we realized there were already too many, so we turned around and started to run. What seemed like over 100 ghouls chased us through the streets. It was among the streets of D.C., silent except for my breathing, and the throats of the ghouls screeching. We all ran and shot at the same time. We sprinted through the streets and vaulted over cars to get away from the ghouls. They poured through the area, fixated on catching us. I shot any ghoul that got near me, although my accuracy from running made me miss a few shells. Dimitri huffed as he ran and carried Sasha. He fired at all the ghouls behind us, his gun spewing out bullet casings. I turned as I saw Doc get tackled by one of them. Tai shot it and pulled Doc to his feet and told him to keep running. Manny tripped over some debris as he was running in front of me. I picked him up and pushed him forward so we wouldn't lose speed. My legs stepped over the cars in the area as we traversed through the ruins at the highest speed we could go. My shotgun ran out of shells when I fired the last ghoul that jumped from the top of a car at me. I cursed and threw it at an approaching ghoul's head, making it trip and cause the ghouls behind him to stumble over him, buying me more running time, but not much.

They were faster than us. Manny pointed out a building with big doors that were intact from the explosion. We all sprinted to it and ran inside. Dimitri was the one who lagged behind, as we watched from the inside. The ghouls were about to get to him when squeezed his large, sweaty body inside. They scrambled to get in the door as we slammed it on their arms and hands. We all pushed to get the door to close completely, but weak bone kept us from doing so. My muscles ached and I was tired from running, so my pushes weren't what they could have been. I felt I was going to give out any second. Dimitri gripped the door with all his might and shouted as he slammed it shut. Manny ran and put two poles on the handles of the door to keep it closed. The ghouls smacked against the door and screamed in their raspy voices with every thump against the door. We all sat against the door and caught our breaths. Sweat ran down our faces. Dimitri started to laugh out loud as a sign of relief. I turned over at him and glared. I gasped for air and turned my head to the door.

"So...that's a feral ghoul." I said as I huffed and puffed.

"This day has been filled with running. I would have preferred fighting raiders at our campsite than this." Dimitri said.

"You prefer fighting raiders than doing anything else!" Manny exclaimed. They both laughed.

We got up and walked around the building. Another set of doors where inside. We opened them up and walked through them. A row of ghouls with weapons aimed at us were the first thing that we saw. We stared at them.

"What are you smoothskins doing here? Here to take our stuff again? Well it's not going to happen! We're ready for you this time!" A ghoul shouted.

"Easy, easy! We're not raiders. We were sent here to get rid of them." I said to them.

"And am I supposed to believe that? You have three seconds to get out of here, or we're _shooting_!" The ghoul shouted.

"We can't, there's-"

"3!"

"We can't leave, there's a bunch-"

"2!"

"We'll die if we go out there!"

"1!" They men readied their weapons to fire as a ghoul woman intervened by running in front of the firing line.

"Stop! Don't shoot them!" A woman said in her raspy voice.

"Anna, get out of here!" The ghoul shouted.

A man in our group recognized the name and his heart sank into his chest, his sweat came out more than before. The room was silent for what seemed like a year for him as he looked forward at her. Doc stepped out from the group and walked slowly forward, his eyes focused on her. The ghouls raised their guns at him in defense, but he paid no attention. The ghouls realized this and stared in confusion at him and the one he stared at.

"Anna?"

She turned to him. Her face was torn and decaying, her hair was plucked out, her lungs wheezed out gentle breaths as her insides rotted. She was a ghoul now, but she was still her. And she remembered him. She remembered what he did for her and what he's done with himself now. He realized it was still her, but he was horrified, surprised, shocked, scared… but happy. He had found her, he had accomplished something.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29: It Only Gets Worse**

"Riktar." The woman said the name aloud as he stared at her and walked forward. He looked at her face when they were inches apart and he could still see her old self in her eyes. It was her, but he was still shocked at what she had become. Her eyes were tearing; she realized she wasn't the same. Doc looked at her more; his eyes darted around her rotting face and peeling skin. This could have been prevented, he thought. He could have prevented this if he wasn't a coward. But the time for that was over. He had brought her in close and hugged her as he sniffled. She hugged back, like they used to, and for a moment, things were better. And then he realized he was in a firing line.

"L…Lower the weapons." Anna told them with a shaking, rattling voice, as if her real voice was put into a box and rattled around to make words. She turned back to him.

"What are you doing here, Riktar? It was too dangerous for you to come here. Are you all right?" The woman asked.

"I'm… I'm great." He told her with a smile.

Anna looked towards us. "Thank you for bringing him here."

"Just because Anna has your back doesn't mean you're welcome here. We've got our eyes on you, outsiders." The ghoul said as his men walked away.

"Don't mind Clip, he's just angry at the raiders around here. Are you guys actually here for what you said you are?" Anna asked with a small remnant of German in her voice, but that was fading with every year she spent away from home.

"Yes, we're here to get rid of them." I told her.

"Good, they have been a nuisance ever since they moved here." Anna said to us.

"What have they done, Anna?" Doc asked.

"They come in here every once and a while and steal our supplies and beat on anyone who tries to stop them, we've tried to do something, but there's too many of them, lately they've had better weaponry and armor, almost brand new it seemed." Anna explained.

"Don't worry, we'll handle them." Doc said with full confidence.

"You actually might be able to. Come with me, there's someone you should meet." Anna said as she took Doc by the hand.

We followed her through the building. The building was completely intact, yet worn away on the inside.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"This is the Museum of Natural History, or as we call it, Underworld. Any ghouls who survive outside and aren't feral come here. We've made it a growing town after people noticed everyone started coming in." Anna said.

"Wow. Must have been tough to get this place running." I said to her.

"From what I've heard, it was bad at a time. The town eventually prospered to a great place to live...until those raiders came here." Anna said sadly.

Anna looked at Manny with an inquisitive stare that Manny couldn't pinpoint as to why.

"You've come back I see." She smiled at him.

"What do you mean?" Manny asked her.

"You were here a few weeks ago. I remember you, almost ghoulified by the radiation."

"Were you… did you help me?"

"Yes." She smiled as they shook hands.

"Well… thank you."

"I see that what I've done hasn't gone to waste." She nodded at the boy.

She turned from Manny and opened a door where she showed us into an office. A ghoul with an intact moustache and perfect, brown, flowing toupee sat at a desk.

"What's this, Anna? Who are these guys?" The ghoul asked.

"They're people who came into the city. They say they're going to take care of the raiders." Anna said.

"Let's hope you can. I'm Paul, I take care of this town and these people, but recently, it's been hard with those raiders in the Museum of Technology." Paul said.

"Don't worry, we're here to help." I nodded.

"I doubt you five will be able to do anything with all those raiders. I've got a plan, if you're willing to hear it." Paul said as he stood back.

"I think we can handle it." I told him.

"Listen to him." Doc told me.

"Fine… I'll listen." I said to him, letting my hands fall down to my sides.

"To put it into simple terms, I have a bunch of pissed of people who want to rip the hearts out of those raiders, and in front of me, I have the five people who can lead them into battle. What do you say?" Paul proposed.

"Y—You think I wouldn't have been able to think of that? Yeah, ok, sure, fine." I nodded.

I sighed. "Do you guys have enough weapons? We're a little low on ammunition and firepower here." I asked him.

"We have an armory downstairs, but it's been hard keeping it stocked recently." Paul said.

"Then you have a deal, Paul." I said. We shook hands and nodded at each other.

"Good, Anna will show you to the armory. My men will be ready at the gates for you." Paul said.

"Yeah I forgot to mention, we kind of ran into some trouble with feral ghouls on the way here. They're all outside the doors" I informed him.

"Don't worry about it. Feral or not, we're practically brothers, well, a smart brother and a stupid, crazy, hungry, skinny brother that is. They won't bother us, so you guys can slip through with my men unnoticed as long as you're surrounded by us." Paul shrugged.

"Good." I said with a sigh of relief.

Anna walked us down some stairs and into a giant room. Giant fake animals were put up here for display. They looked unusual, even for the Wasteland. We stared at the various animals as Anna walked us through the room. She opened a door and we walked into a room with various weapons and ammunition. Dimitri's eyes opened wide as he walked in. Dimitri smiled, and then frowned as he walked around the room, basking in the ammunition amounts. He spotted all the firearms; the rifles, the shotguns, double barreled, cocked, safeties on, hollow points, laser sights. It made him disgusted. Most of all, he didn't know why. I took out my pack and got out the 9mm pistol. I grabbed another pistol holster and put it on the other side of my waist and stuck the weapon into it, where I took another pistol and its ammo. I pulled out a better bullet-proof vest and put it over my shirt, and then put my coat back on. Manny walked around and processed what his eyes were seeing, nodding at the weapons with a smile. He then clamored for every weapon in sight, struggling to pick them up. Tai kept her rifle, but grabbed some hollow point bullets. She grabbed a small machine gun and put it in her pistol holster. Doc grabbed a rifle holster and automatic rifle. He smiled as he reloaded it. Dimitri all watched us, happily supplying ourselves for another battle. He shook his head. Dimitri dropped his ammo box on the floor. It made a loud thump as it hit the ground. We all turned to him.

"I don't want to do this." He said to a quiet room.

"You're kidding me right?" I asked him.

"They deserve no mercy, those raiders… but not from me. I want to see them suffer, but I can't allow myself to force that. It's not who I am."

"It seems like _that's_ what you were all about, maybe up until 15 seconds ago." I argued.

"I don't like being the one who hurts people, but I have no choice. This world is like a poison. It's either I kill and hurt or I am the one who is killed and hurt. I have a chance to stop that here."

"You agreed to do this mission, follow it to the end, you can't back away now, especially not now!" I shouted.

Dimitri turned to me and walked close to me. He looked down at my shorter head and exhaled through his nose. "I am." He told me.

I looked down at the ground in rage and looked up and punched him. He didn't flinch, he only sighed.

"Please don't do that." He told me as he walked away.

Manny looked at Dimitri as he left the armory and the last remnant of his sister behind on the ground, attached to an ammo backpack. I stared at the ground and sighed as Manny struggled to lift up the minigun. He grunted and only flipped the massive metal gun over. Manny paused to sigh. He wanted to bring it with him: either to battle, or to bring back Dimitri's identity.

Anna stared at Doc as he looked at the rifle he was holding.

"You're going with them?" She asked him.

"Yes. And Ich _will_ come back. I promise."

"Well, you haven't broken one of those yet." She nodded and smiled.

The hugged and he breathed in the memory of her.

I sighed and walked further into the armory. I grabbed two more small gun holsters and put two small machine guns in them. Manny took a long time to decide what gun he needed. He settled for a bullet proof vest and two small machine guns, same as me. I then looked off to the side and saw a rifle resting in the corner. It was a golden lever action rifle with a black barrel and gold side loader, that looked spectacular, even when put into a dark corner. I picked it up and held its sleek metal and wooden stock in my hands.

"We found that thing here. It's a historical weapon given to a past president named Abraham Lincoln in hopes that it would influence the purchase of rifles like it. That's all we know about it. If it helps, I'll let you use it." Paul said to me.

"Hmmmm…."

"Nah." I said as I tossed it carelessly back into the glass case.

"Looks like it sucks anyway." I muttered as I walked away.

We headed out of the armory and towards the gates. About 30 ghouls, including the ones who met us at the gates were waiting for us. Paul went up to them.

"This is the day, my friends! The day we can finally push out those raiders that have tormented us for so long! These men have agreed to lead us into battle so that we may save our town from our unruly neighbors! We must do this! For our friends! For our families! For Underworld!" Paul shouted.

Dimitri stood at the top of the staircase, looking down at us. He sighed as I looked up at him, and turned my back to him.

Joe wheezed and coughed as he limped slowly to the wall of the D.C. ruins. He quickly ran over to an old ladder and removed rock from the metal safety casing around it. He grunted as he threw away stones the size of his head and let more of it that was cased inside the shaft fall down. It was rusted and about to break away, and at some points already were. Joe saw this as the only way in, so he climbed. The metal creaked and snapped from his feet and he had to jump to the bars above him to keep him from falling. Soon, he was over the wall and rubble and on the side of a collapsed building. He scrambled over the rubble and slipped at the top, tumbling down into the interior of the D.C. ruins. He coughed and felt his ribs as he had landed on them. He wheezed and coughed out post-war dust caked into the building's old dust. He got to his feet, holding his knee in pain as he moved forward towards the Washington Monument. He looked up at it, exposing his face to the sun. The new light shined a tired, aged face.

The men and women cheered and pulled the poles out from the door. We rushed into the crowd of men and women as they walked outward. The men walked slowly beside the feral ghouls there. Dimitri had to duck his head so that they couldn't see them. The feral ghouls stared at the men as they walked out. The doors closed behind us as we walked into the sea of ferals. We all walked down the street towards their building. There was way more feral ghouls than I thought. They filled the streets, and were everywhere in sight. It was like they waited for us to come back out, every single one of them. The street was a sea of ghouls. I didn't want to think about what might have happened if we couldn't outrun them. As we walked, the feral ghouls stared into the crowd and began following. Manny's eyes widened.

"We could use this to our advantage. Stick with the plan." I whispered to them.

We walked down the street with all the feral ghouls towards the Museum of Technology. The building was larger than Underworld, yet damaged by the bombs. Wood planks covered the holes in the buildings. Raiders stood watch with weapons. They looked at us and turned around and ran away. The ghouls then charged into the building. The five of us kept quiet as we ran along with them. The feral ghouls poured into the building and started tearing the raiders to shreds with their bare, bony hands as our cover fanned out and diminished. Blood flew off the raiders as they screamed for them to get them off. The ferals all ran and attacked the raiders as the normal ghouls walked through a door. Over 60 raiders were outside the building alone, I didn't want to think about how many were inside. The ferals were too preoccupied with the raiders that they didn't follow. The men closed the doors behind us.

"We need to get the raiders outside. You guys continue up ahead, we'll be right behind you." Clip said to me, somewhat angrily.

We all took out our weapons and charged into the inner building. The museum had many pieces of metals displayed just like Underworld, except these weren't animals. An endlessly large group of raiders got up as they saw us and scrambled for their weapons. I pulled out my machine guns and popped a shot into one bandit's torso. Tai took out her rifle and finished off the wounded with a swift headshot that exited the skull, and sent blood onto the wall, that was not too much, but not too little, the exact precise amount that she was known for. Manny sprinted through the room and flanked them, firing at all the raiders from the side as he cried out a battle cry like Dimitri once did in battle before his heart changed. Doc smiled as he shot anything he could see, his eyes piercing through his enemies just as his bullets did. When he ran out of ammo, he swung his rifle like a baseball bat. Manny jumped atop a raider and fired into his head. He turned to his side and got kicked in the face by another raider. The boy flopped to the floor as the raider lifted up a sledgehammer at him. Manny's eyes shot open as he rolled out of the way from him and felt his bleeding lip. The raider slammed his sledgehammer down again on him and instead of rolling, Manny decided to try to catch the speeding hammer. The bones in his hand cracked as he shouted and tensed up on the head of the hammer. His thumbs were peeled back and broken, but the fingers that have survived grabbed tightly tot eh sledgehammer, refusing to return it to the owner. Manny grunted and shouted in pain as he tried for his life to wretch the weapon free. The raider just decided to kick the boy's head in again and rip the weapon from his broken, bleeding hands. Manny held his hands to his chest to keep them from being exposed to the painful air and from any even more painful attacks. Manny rolled to his side and tried to get up and run away, but the raider swung the hammer at his legs and took him down again as he was halfway up. Manny looked up as the raider lifted the sledgehammer above his head and brought it down on Manny's. A man emerged and grabbed the sledgehammer with all his might and threw it away from the raider. This same man beat down at the raider with a single, flying punch that took the attacker straight down into the floor like a missile. He then got on top of the raider and beat him until he couldn't see through his swollen eyes. Manny turned his head as he wheezed and lifted his unbroken hand towards his savior.

A large Russian man grabbed that hand and lifted him to his feet as they met eyes for a moment and nodded. Dimitri covered Manny with an assault rifle as they fended off the rest of the raiders. Tai turned to me as she fired off a shot at someone.

"Don't let the leader get away. We got this. Just keep going!" Tai shouted.

Dimitri and I ran through the battlefield. He charged through a door and we fired at the lessened group of raiders inside. One raider ran up to Dimitri. The Russian smacked his gun into the raider's head and fired into his torso. A raider jumped on me and I dropped my guns as my skull cracked against the ground.

"Chain would sure like this one." He told me as he plunged a knife towards me. I quickdrew a machine gun and shot his head. I pushed him off of me with my foot and took out my other small machine gun and kept firing. I then ducked into cover and reloaded both of them. We sprinted through the room, firing at the raiders who rushed at us. I ran to a raider and punched him with my gun's barrel. He fell to the ground and I executed him with, until my firearms clicked. I threw them to my side and pulled out my two pistols, and continued to fire. We ran through the room, jumping over the tables and other objects the raiders set up to keep us away. I ran to cover and reloaded my weapons, popping back up. A raider turned to me and shot me in the chest. I fell to the ground and opened my eyes. The bullet hit my vest, and when I looked at the flattened bullet, I sighed. Dimitri pulled me to my feet and we kept shooting at the raiders.

Dimitri then charged through a double door and shot the few raiders inside. A man sat against a table. He had a messy greying mohawk and beard. We aimed our guns at him.

"Hello. You must be Jace." The man smiled at me.

"We're not talking, I'm killing you now." I told the man as I aimed at his head.

"I don't think so." He smiled as he got up.

"Hold on." I interrupted the intense cliché conversation. "We just killed, like, _ALL_ your guys, how are you so confident still? Isn't that intimidating you, at least a little bit?"

"You see, we sent a messenger a while back to tell you that we've been watching you. When you left, we attacked your town. From what I saw, your daughter and wife would make good slaves."

"What?" I asked him.

Dimitri looked into the man's eyes and he walked closer towards him.

"You..." Dimitri said as he dropped his gun. He walked up to him and held him by the shirt. He lifted him to the air with his left arm effortlessly as his mouth opened in realization.

"You are the one that killed Sasha... Four-Leaf is your name..." Dimitri said as he breathed heavily and grinded his teeth.

"Oh! I remember you, the little chubby boy! You know, you still breathe as loudly now as you did before." Four-Leaf smiled.

Dimitri lifted him into the air and roared.

"I saw you in that closet when I killed her; I left you alone because I wanted you to live with seeing it." Four-Leaf said to him.

Dimitri threw him across the room into a wall. He then readied a punch.

"Tell your dog to keep off... or you won't see your family again." Four-Leaf smiled at me. Dimitri struck him across the face.

"I don't care about his family… I don't care about him, whether he lives or dies… all I care about is _you_." Dimitri grunted as he grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.

"Dimitri…" I warned him as Four-Leaf began to choke and his face rushed with blood.

"Dimitri!" I shouted at him as Four-Leaf was cut off from air.

I lifted up a tire iron from a dead raider and brought it into Dimitri's leg and toppled him. Dimitri huffed in anger and grabbed towards me. I lifted my gun up and held it against the Russian's head with one hand as my eyes faced Four-Leaf.

"Where is Chain?!" I shouted to the leader.

"You don't want to know about him, you just want to see your precious widdle fam—" I smacked Four-Leaf with my pistol and held it close to his face.

"Don't you talk about them! DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT THEM!" I yelled hysterically, my voice cracking and my gun turned back to his face. Four-Leaf grabbed his jaw and wiped the blood from his face. Dimitri looked up at me and the gears in his head began to process my motives thus far. He didn't understand what I felt, until now. He sat on the ground and watched me, he could have taken me down then, but he didn't for whatever reason.

"Where are they?!" I ordered. He spit his blood into my face. I wiped it off slowly.

I sighed and got my composure.

"In a few seconds a gang of feral ghouls are going to come in here and pull you apart... if you're lucky." I said. I dropped my gun and signaled Dimitri to come over here. Dimitri stared at him with rage.

"Now... where are they?" I asked.

"It's already too late; he's going to kill them if you walk in. He's across the street, genius." Four-Leaf sighed.

"Thank you. You're a bad leader by the way." I said. I let Dimitri onto him. Dimitri beat him as he screamed and cursed at him. He broke his arms and legs with his bare hands and punched him repeatedly. Four-Leaf screamed in terror as he was beaten to death. Dimitri deserved this chance and I wasn't going to take it away from him. Something snapped inside that poor man that day, he knew this would happen eventually, and he indulged in his fury. I walked away, and didn't turn back, only saying quietly:

"Everyone's luck is bound to wear off some day."

Even mine.


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30: Your Story**

Manny and Doc walked in with the rest of the ghoul troops as I brushed past them with a vile stare that shook my insides. My family may be in danger. I knew I was being baited into a trap.

"What happened?" Manny asked me.

"Where's Tai?" I asked him, ignoring his question.

"I thought I saw her run ahead to catch up with you guys." Manny said to me. I had an even worse feeling in my stomach.

I looked at Doc and Manny and ran back to the previous room. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted Tai's name. After minutes of shouting, a low voice answered me. I ran to a flipped over couch, where Tai laid with blood over her armor. I ran to her and called over Doc. Doc stared in horror at Tai, she had a buckshot emptied into her stomach and lower body. Doc then injected Tai with a syringe and tended to her bullet wounds, breathing heavier than usual.

She looked at me, a spot of blood at her mouth, her eyes glossy with tears, her face for some reason devoid of anger.

"Remember what I said before?" She asked me hoarsely.

I stared back at her.

"When you—" She gagged on blood and swallowed hard, her head bobbing back. "—When you see me… like this… do you even care?" She asked. Her voice was tired, almost sad. It broke my heart, so much that I couldn't answer with the truth.

"Yes."

She scoffed and smiled. "No you don't. I'm not sure what you care about…"

She winced: Doc tore buckshot out of her skin.

"But it's not us… it's not you either… it's something else."

I stared back into her eyes. "I never planned to survive this mission… even if I lived." She confessed.

"I hope you find out who you really care about, Jace… because _I_ know… I have that much on you…."

Tai muttered to herself as she bled from all over. She fell back in a puddle of blood as her eyes twitched and separated from her brain waves and finally shut down. She exhaled a final breath and was still.

I never took the time to look at someone as they died; I always looked away or figured they deserved it: but this was different. She didn't deserve to die. I didn't deserve to watch this happen to another human being. But even after that I thought to myself: it was my fault, she knew this would happen and knew I wouldn't care. Death is an unreal experience, so unreal that us human beings don't truly believe that it would ever happen, otherwise we'd be living in holes in the ground, taking useless tests in a metal shelter while people smarter than you talked down to you. This is what I wanted ever since I was a child, and I finally had it. This was the life I chose, to leave my best friend in the vault and chase a man to his death. To make new friends and have them hate me and leave. To have a child so she could be put in danger while I wasn't there. It was my choice to push this makeshift team to their limits along with me. This Wasteland wasn't meant for people to live in, I realized it then. I wasn't sure if there ever will be a place that existed like that. But death was stuck onto me and everyone in the Wasteland as soon as they're born; I was the only idiot who decided to look for that feeling. And now, as I watched a woman die next to a molding couch around people she never liked and maybe despised, I realized I had a responsibility: not to do my job and get paid money, but to protect what I chose to care about. And I chose those people who hate me because I never took responsibility for my actions.

But I was going to now. I had to make yet another choice then, one that was never going to work out the way I hoped. But that was what growing up was all about: you're never going to be truly happy with your decisions, but others can be.

Doc and I looked at Tai for a moment, and looked down in silence. We then slowly got up and walked back to the main room. Manny looked into my eyes as he was about to ask a question, but didn't after he realized the answer was buried in my facial expression. I packed up my guns and began to walk out of the room. Manny stopped me as I tried to rush away.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Stay here, I have something to do." I told him.

"Well what do you plan on doing? It's too dangerous to go out alone!" Manny shouted.

"Listen to me…" I told the child in a low voice.

"You need to leave this city now: all of you. Get as far away from this as you can, Manny. What happened back in that room to Tai doesn't have to happen to you. You _need_ to leave."

"W—What ever happened to doing the mission? You've been yelling at us the whole time about it!"

"Things are different. Your job is done. Congratulations, you'll be paid next week." I told him as I left the room. That wasn't enough for him. He was going to do something, maybe because there was unfinished business or he just wanted to go against my word one last time.

Victoria held tightly onto her daughter as everyone was huddled against a wall. The raiders covered the entrance to the door as Chain watched with his arms folded.

"The gunfire stopped, should we go check?" Someone asked in the raider encampment.

"No. Stay here." Chain told them. He smiled and looked back at Victoria. She didn't understand why. But Chain and I understood the feeling we mutually felt. We were drawn to each other since I first met him: we knew when we were around each other. We were bound to meet and end this eventually, except this time in my foolishness I went alone across the street, my pistols drawn and firing at any stray feral that sprinted towards me and hissed. My eyes were set at the entrance to the museum, these eyes saw through the door and right into Chain as he stared back: waiting. I was ignorant and blind, and now for the first time I realized how the Wasteland truly worked. You either die or destroy anything that is a threat to you or your family, no matter what your definition of a family is. Whether it be a daughter you don't know anything about, a wife who hates you and a best friend who spits on your memory because he knew something you didn't: you weren't a man.

Victoria clutched onto her daughter for dear life as my gunshots got closer. She looked down at her daughter and she started to cry as she looked at her mother. Why? She thought to herself, but then she realized why: she was crying too. She had made her child cry and that fact ruined her. She realized at that moment she wasn't a mother: just a guardian. She didn't care about her daughter, she never loved her. Deep down she had to take care of her because it was her responsibility. And that's not what Sarah deserved. She deserved to be happy and to be loved, not to have parents that loathed each other and screamed every night at each other. Sarah deserved to live a life that Victoria would have been jealous of, because she was robbed of her parents love-by force-by the man in front of her. But she didn't care about him. Other problems concerned her and she realized how selfish she had been. She was the only person there who was capable of stopping him, and she finally had a chance to fix her mistakes, or at least start to. The man in the road sign armor was the only thing standing in her way from being happy, and she didn't even move him out of the way. But she was going to now, because she was the only one left who could. In her mind, everyone else was dead: her husband… her best friend. And in a way, she was right.

Joe took cover behind a blue mailbox until his ears stopped hearing the loudest firefight he had ever heard in his life. He saw raiders sprint and retreat into a museum that was fortified but not guarded from the inside due to the roaming ferals. He kept low to the ground and inhaled sharply. His body still hurt, but he couldn't pay attention to that now. His face was set towards the inside of the building because he too could feel the evil that sat in there. And with his bag emptied and a detonator in hand, he limped towards this building, breathing roughly. His bloodshot, tired eyes stared sternly at the side of the museum as he advanced towards it. The man with the jokes and sarcasm now walked coldly towards the man who was about to harm the ones he loved. There wasn't a smirk, no clever line or beer in his hand: only hate, pain and two explosives explosive taken from the Vault 101 armory, and the bitter feeling he felt that would stick to his personality for the rest of his life.

This was it for these four people: the one who wronged them was about to settle a score with the three people who went to hell and back to make sure he wouldn't ruin anyone else's lives ever again, because their lives were completely and utterly destroyed, inside and out. This was about to end, and there wasn't going to be a winner, because there never is. This was a war set from the start.

And war, war never changes.

We do.


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31: Far Too Stupid, Far Too Young**

"Tie them up! All of them!" Chain ordered his men.

"I hear ferals!" A raider shouted.

"Bar the front door! DO IT NOW." Chain separated his troops as they rope tied everyone including Sarah and her mother. They all returned back to the front door and shot through the windows at the ferals clawing inside. Chain exhaled and turned around to make eye contact with Victoria. He snorted and turned back to the front door.

I checked my ammo in my weapons. I had three shots in one pistol and one in my other. I walked through a side window while the raiders argued with each other. The sounds of ghouls got closer to them, the beasts were drawn to the noise I made and began to claw at the door of the building I was now in. Joe stopped breathing for a second as he saw me go in. He rasped out a cry, but I couldn't hear him. I was coming into the room of death and he knew it. I crouched down and looked to my right. All the raiders were occupied in fighting for their lives as Chain stood in the middle of the room, waiting for me. I jumped out of cover and aimed my weapons at him.

"Not going to happen." Chain said with an angry smile as he aimed a high powered revolver at me. He recognized me. He had no intention of letting me live for what I've done. I was his target and I had delivered myself right to him. I read his eyes and turned my pistol in my right hand towards the door and fired at two loyal raiders who tried to protect their leader. The rest decided that their lives were more important than their leader's and guarded the door from ferals who were slipping inside.

"Put the gun down." I said to him, thinking in an adrenaline-fueled thought that this man could be reasoned with.

Victoria's heart stopped beating as she saw me standing in the middle of the room as sun poked through the wooden barricades on the windows. She stayed quiet as Sarah did as well. She learned to be quiet.

"No." He spoke. His voice was gruff and a strand of gray long hair ran down in between his eyes and rested on the bridge of his nose. His eyes were squinted, deep crow's feet sprouted out the sides of them like creases in his skin.

"Do you know what you've done to me? W-What you've done to all of us?" I asked him, my voice changing in pitch and my eyes burning up.

"You… you _ruined_ my life…"

The silent room soaked up the words.

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" I boomed in the echoing empty museum as Chain waited there for me to move. The ghouls clawed and feasted down on one poor raider that managed to get caught and grabbed into the horde.

"That's cute, honey. But here's what I'm gonna do-"

He aimed his revolver at Victoria with one hand and continued to look at me.

"I'm going to shoot her unless you kill yourself right now with that gun you have aimed at me."

"Jace, don't!" Victoria screamed.

"Only if you promise to let them go." I told him.

"JACE!" She screamed.

"Ha-ha! You think I'm going to promise that shit? You don't _get_ to negotiate-because you lost, kid! You're going to kill yourself and then I'm going to wait for those vault dipshits to come here and kill them too! You know, for young people, you guys are pretty fucking predictable."

"Jace, shoot him!" My wife shouted.

"Come on Jace… I may be old but I still have my reflexes. You're not saving her." He warned me. He shook his head, and for a second, he seemed humane in his warning not to try anything.

I waited in silence as I stared into his eyes and made the decision of my lifetime. After all that's happened, I don't regret what I did. I wanted this, after all.

"Do it! Now!" He shouted. I picked my gun up and held it to my head. I looked down at the floor.

"Sarah." I called to her.

She looked up at me. I stared directly into her eyes and squinted.

"I want you to watch this. Remember this." I told her. "Remember that no one deserves the mercy that I'm showing this man now."

"But Daddy-"

"Listen to me, please…" I began to cry. Chain smiled.

"I love you…" I told her in what felt like the first time I ever got to.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I took in a deep breath and began to squeeze the trigger. The ceiling then blew open and dust flew everywhere. I looked at the person who saved me.

It was Joe.

Chain's eyes stared only at me as everything moved in slow motion. I aimed my pistol towards him, and in his anger, he turned and fired a bullet into me. It pierced through my body as Joe looked through the smoking hole he just created. I dropped my weapons and fell back to the ground as Joe's mouth dropped open.

"NO!" Joe shouted at the top of his lungs as he jumped into the building and fell onto Chain in a high-momentum tackle. The two men barreled over and coughed.

I looked up at the ceiling through the hole Joe made and up towards the high sun as blood exited my body. I breathed through my mouth, my eyes wincing with every second. My wife looked to see me in this state, and my daughter did as well. Their hearts broke. They knew they had to watch this.

With a fury like no other, Joe punched down at Chain's head with an echoing shout. He flipped Joe over his back and slammed him into the ground, his high powered revolver sliding off to the side as Joe took him away from it. Chain got up and walked over to his gun as Joe got up and jumped on his back with a shout. Chain stumbled forward, gained his balance, and slammed Joe's head into the cinder block wall, taking Joe down to the ground. Chain grabbed Joe by the neck and lifted him above the tall bandit's head, choking him against the wall. Joe kicked the man in the head and took Chain away from him. Joe landed on his feet and ran at the man, pouncing on him with a bellowing roar as all his life he wished for this moment to happen. Joe landed on Chain and took him by the neck, slamming the back of his head against the ground as the two men's faced burned red with anger. Chain's large hands cupped around Joe's smaller throat as the raiders at the door began to fight other people at the front entrance, keeping the two sides from gaining any ground.

The raiders knew this battle was waging, and some came to help their leader, but were picked off by a guardian angel that was soon to join them.

It was hard to breathe from my state, and I knew this was a serious wound. I couldn't feel how bad the wound was in the puddle that surrounded me, but I knew Joe needed me. I rolled over to my stomach and crawled painfully over to one of my pistols as my hands became cold and shook. Chain threw the man off of him effortlessly and into a construction bench with nails and wood on it. Joe landed on it and fell to the ground limp, his back arched as something had stabbed it. I fumbled at the gun with my weak and dripping hands and held it tightly as I turned over to Chain's direction. I received a kick to my head as I fired a loose shot. Chain smacked the empty gun from my hands and into a dark corner. The bandit punched down at my head again and again, shouting as the first punch had already sent me into unconsciousness. Joe jump tackled the man away from me with a grunt and sent him into the ground. Joe lifted a nail hammer and bashed at the man's head with it. Chain swatted it away and kicked Joe off of him. Chain looked over to me as I lay still on the ground, blood slowly seeping through a fatal wound and now through my nose. Joe got up and launched the nail hammer at Chain as he ran over to finish him off. The blunt of it hit the bandit leader's head and staggered him as Joe searched for another weapon to defeat the raider: the baby killer and life stealer.

Chain's armored toe reached Joe's forehead and Joe sprawled back from the blow. Chain huffed and walked away as Joe felt his ringing head to try to soothe his blurry vision. Chain grabbed loose wire that was coiled around a lever, connected to a pulley. This pulley lifted a large box of bricks above the heads of everyone, and was suspended in air for what seemed like an eternity until Chain grabbed the wire and looped it around Joe's neck. Chain tightened the wire and Joe let out a dry choke and fell backwards at the mercy of the spool that was connected to him. Joe gasped for breath and tried to rip the wire from his neck before Chain could finish his plan. But it was too late: Chain pulled the lever and released the box of bricks into the ground. Joe's eye's widened on Natalie, he let out a sharp choke and was dragged dozens of feet into the air, kicking and choking as dust kicked off the old contraption. Joe's body had a spasm and swung in the air, trying at the rusted old bolts holding the wire up in the air. Joe kicked his legs around and held at his neck until his face turned white. He dropped his arms and they went limp. His face mellowed from fear, and his eyes flickered. His arm lifted itself into the air and yanked on the wire above him that held his neck so and yanked it from the foundation. Joe fell from the ceiling and back onto the ground with a sharp crack, pop, and snap. He let out a scream so loud it overshadowed the fight around us. He fell back and coughed, screamed and moaned in pain next to Chain. I opened my eyes and lay on my stomach, with my head facing my second gun. I slowly moved my hand and tried my hardest to reach for it, but I just couldn't. One eye was barely open and I could see Joe lying on the floor near me atop a pile of old bricks and dust.

Chain searched for his signature weapon to finish us off, but when he couldn't find it, he took out a back-up knife from his boot and limped slowly over to Joe as Victoria watched in horror, and she wasn't the only one. Natalie's eyes were fixated only on Joe as his eyes were closed.

"Game over, Joey." He sent the knife plunging down into him. Joe awoke instantly and grabbed the knife with one hand as he swung a loose brick into Chain's head with a defensive scream. The knife slipped out into Joe's hand as he weakly tried to crawl on the bricks as Chain rushed back from the stumbling blow he received. Joe made an agonizing sound as he spotted white formations coming from his leg wound. Joe turned onto his back and looked to his sides for an aid, but he was all alone this time. His eyes then met with Victoria, as she was the closest to him.

With all his energy Joe sent the knife flying into the drywall next to Victoria's tied up arms. Chain backhanded the weakened Joe and stood atop of him, beating him senselessly. Natalie looked with her mouth open, but not in shock or horror. After a while Joe couldn't fight back any longer and began to take the beating. Victoria slid the rope over the knife and cut herself free. As the rope was cut off she wretched the knife from the wall and threw it into Chain's chest as he held Joe by the neck. The knife slid through the cracks in his armor and separated the stop sign from his body, exposing his chest to us. Victoria rammed her shoulder into his bare skin and he flew off of Joe.

"Joe!" Victoria yelled at him. She turned over to me. "Oh God… Oh God!" She got down to Joe and tried to help him as Chain stepped over my body and started to walk towards Victoria. She looked at Joe: he was unrecognizable from the beatings. She hadn't realized he was coming and neither Joe or I could communicate the danger. My finger's brushed the barrel of the gun and gripped it as I tried my hardest to use it. I did what my body allowed me to do; I pushed it to Joe's capable hands. Joe grabbed the grip of the gun and pushed Victoria off of him and pulled the trigger, firing the final bullet in the chamber. Chain stepped back and felt himself. Blood spurt from his shoulder and he clenched his fists and moved towards Joe. Victoria sent a punch from his side and it smacked against his right cheek. He turned to his right and slapped her with the back of his hand. The light woman fell to the ground by the force. Chain grabbed Joe by the shirt and dragged him by his back across the ground with splintered pieces of wood and jagged pieces of stone broken away by the explosive. Chain groaned out a loud grunt as he threw Joe into a pile of rubble and tools. Joe shouted out in pain as Victoria threw an empty gun at Chain's body to get his attention and he turned to her. She breathed heavily, with a red hand mark on her face. He walked over to her and she threw a hard hook to his head. He turned to the side from the blow and she struck him with her other hand to spin him back around to the other side. She grabbed his head and punched into his stomach again and again and hooked his chin to finish her combination. He did a 180 and landed dizzily over a table, where Victoria jumped up and slammed his head forward into the bench, cracking the wood. Chain fell to the ground, his eyes closed. They then snapped open and grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground. Chain put his massive hand over her head and smacked it into the ground. He lifted her up and smashed her against a wooden wall and cracked it. He then grabbed her torso and threw her straight through the wall that was halted in its construction long ago. She broke through and landed on the other side with her body in too much pain to move any more. Joe groaned and got up from the broken tools. He rolled out of it, wincing and holding his body as it burned from this fight. Chain was on a war path to Victoria as Joe grabbed a saw blade and tossed it at him, choosing to make a sacrifice. He wasn't ready to fight, he was done with that, he had lost a long time ago. Chain turned angrily and moved towards him as Joe closed his eyes and prepared for another beating.

My senses were fading, and the fight was the only thing there I could see. I crawled on the ground, my teeth grinding and my arms fighting their hardest to keep me up. All I knew was that he needed me, that Joe wasn't going to fight any more of my battles. I pushed from the ground with a painful moan and got to my feet and limped over to Chain's back as he beat down on him. Joe gripped the loose blade that took off his armor and grabbed it quickly as Chain put his hand in defense of the quick stab. Joe had cut his hand and Chain gripped the pointed blade as it cut him and tore it away from Joe. He picked Joe's head up and he punched down again and again at Joe's eyes. Joe clenched Chain's fist angrily, trying his best to fight back. My footing was lost and I fell back to the ground with a harsh thud as Chain threw Joe to the center of the room. All eyes were on him, especially his friends and wife. She stared at the man with watery eyes as Joe moaned on the ground in pain, coughing in a fit and his lungs needing a break. I looked down at my wounds; liquid dripped out everywhere, leaving trails where I walked. Something else I noticed on the ground was a loose wire. I extended my hand towards it and hoarsely wheezed forward, running at Chain as he kicked Joe's face again and again, making Joe scream out in pain.

I screamed out in rage as I tied the wire around his neck , crossed it, and held it tightly in my hands. My knuckles turned white as my palms desperately tried to keep hold of the wire long enough. Chain's oxygen-deprived shouts came out as I used everything inside of me to choke this man to death. With his blade still in his hand he stabbed it down into my thigh. I cried out, but that only tightened my grip as Chain choked and quickly ran out of breath. In his panic he pulled the blade out and stabbed my leg again and again from behind him. I let out horrifying and painful cries that took the attention of some of the raiders that were fighting at the front. They turned to us. Chain stabbed harder and harder, and then lighter and softer as I gripped the wire behind his neck as tight as I could allow myself to. His arm slowed to a stop, with the blade stuck inside my leg. I dropped Chain and he fell to the ground with a thud. I stumbled back, my leg was mutilated. Victoria left from the hole in the wall and saw me standing up with a knife in me. She gasped and sprinted towards me as a raider ran over to the center of the room. I spotted him running towards her with a shotgun and she did as well. And with my last ditch effort to save the woman I love, I gave her a weapon. I weakly pulled the knife from me and sent blood popping out through the multiple stab wounds in my leg. I tried my best to turn to her and help her, but I stumbled back and collapsed, sending the bleeding knife sliding on the ground in her direction. The raider ran to Chain and aimed his gun at Joe, and then me. When he finally turned to Victoria, the knife was already picked up and ran into his body as she stabbed into him. She lifted up the knife and took it to his neck and killed him on the spot as she grabbed the shotgun from him. Joe coughed "behind…" and Victoria rolled away as a raider fired at her. She fired the shotgun from the ground as her roll ended and killed another raider. She pumped the shotgun and got up to her feet as the raiders at the front all fell and Underworld troops accompanied by special forces entered the building and saw as a woman stood still, looking down at two wounded men, both who needed her.

She turned to her left and saw Joe: her best friend and longest known person. His face was swollen 3x its regular size in little, fist-shaped spots on his face from the punches and wounds he received. His nose and leg was broken, splintered and bleeding, and his right eye was swollen completely shut from inflamed skin. His neck was red and bleeding from being choked almost to death and his chest rose and fell quickly with clogged breaths. What she didn't see were the rusted old nails stabbed through his back from being thrown around. With his neck closing, he would choke to death soon.

And to her right was her husband and the love of her life: father of her daughter. He took a high caliber magnum round through his stomach, but it was luckily slowed down due to his armor, but "luck" sadly didn't describe the injuries her husband sustained. Other than the internal injury from a gunshot, his nose was broken and his skull had a bleeding bruise. His lower body had 14 stabs wounds from a knife in his thigh and hip and was bleeding out for minutes now and will die without treatment.

She stared at the two and wanted to help both, but couldn't. She had to decide quickly which one to help as the medic arrived. She looked at the men as they looked up at the sky and then each other.

"I'm sorry—." I told him through broken speech. And I was, truly. I was sorry I had to put Joe through this familiar situation again, I was sorry that I pushed him to become something he's not. I was sorry I left that vault. I fell back, something snapped off inside me and that was it.

Joe looked at me. He couldn't say anything, unfortunately that was the one thing he wanted to do.

Victoria bent down and decided.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" She screamed as she bent over Joe as his breath was cut off and he slowly choked. She lifted up two fingers and opened his throat to let in air as Joe clenched his fists and gagged and coughed.

"Joe you gotta breathe, just breathe, please!" Victoria begged with red eyes and wet cheeks as the uncomfortable pain were unbearable on top of all his injuries.

I awoke again. I rasped out a few slow breaths and held my wounds, or in my case, just covered them with my numb arms. I began to lose feeling everywhere and I became cold. As the ghouls and Special Forces rushed in, the medics answered Victoria's screams and sent Doc and a few capable ghoul medics to us. Doc lifted up my limp head and looked into my still eyes. I looked dead to him, but I somehow was still breathing.

"Why'd you run off without us, you idiot?" Doc asked me quietly as he helped me. The ghouls untied the Megaton captives as a little girl ran towards her father crying.

"DADDY!" She sobbed as she ran over to me and hugged my body. I tried to lift my hand to at least lift my arm to stroke her beautiful hair, but I couldn't bring my arm up. I was limp, lifeless, useless except for a few breaths. Maybe that's all I was to her the entire time. Doc looked at the resemblance as she sobbed and cried over me. He didn't know; he didn't realize why I was there.

"WHAT DID HE DO TO MY DADDY?!" Sarah cried as she grabbed at my cold face, my eyes unable to move anywhere other than up.

"I-Ich need to help him, sweetie, please…don't touch him." Doc told her.

Joe was injected with fluids, and his swelling in his throat calmed down enough to breathe normally again. He grunted loudly and rolled to his side and crawled towards me.

"He's lost a lot of blood, does anyone have blood packs?!" Doc shouted to the other medics.

"Joe, sit still, you need help!" Victoria shouted through tears. She had been in this situation before.

"Me…" Joe told Doc. "We're the same blood type."

"Are you sure?" Doc asked him. Joe was sure. He had given me blood a few years ago in my youth when I foolishly tried to fight a bandit leader and lost-tragically.

"Yes, please do it, quick!" Joe begged as my jaw was open and my face was ice white.

They hooked him up to me and the blood came from his arm and into the place where I needed it.

Joe looked over to the choked out raider. "Give him CPR." Joe told the medics.

"What?" They asked him.

"You heard me. Do it." Joe told them.

"He's got stab wounds, get those clothes off!" A different medic yelled to Doc.

Doc found the stab wounds on my legs and ripped my pants off my body. The tear in my pants ruptured my pockets and the insides exploded outwards. A ring rolled from it and rested in front of Victoria's feet. She bent down and grabbed it. She recognized it, and the moment when it was given originally.

"Give me a gun." Joe told them as another medic gave the raider chest compressions and took breaths for him. Someone handed Joe a gun as he sat on the ground next to Sarah. He held her head with his free arm and held her tightly, more than he ever did before, because I could never be there to do it myself. He held his hand around her left ear as he brought her into his chest, where he covered her right ear. As soon as he heard Chain cough and regain breaths the doctors backed away in fear from him.

"Sit him up." Joe commanded them as he lifted his right hand up and aimed the pistol at Chain. The bandit leader's eyes opened to two doctors holding him up as Joe aimed a pistol at him.

Chain coughed as he looked at Joe. "I wasn't always seen as the bad guy..."

He looked tiredly up at Joe's swollen face. "Joe, listen to me, I—"

Joe held Sarah as tight as he could as he fired into Chain's stomach, then in his shoulder again, then his stomach. Chain stared into Joe's eye as Joe, without any expression, executed him. The doctors held Chain still as he breathed his final breaths. Joe fired every bullet in the magazine into the raider's stomach so he could feel every single one.

His gun clicked. "Drop him."

Chain was dropped to the floor, he was already dead. Joe dropped the gun and released Sarah from her earmuffs. She looked at her father as Joe stared down at him. Victoria stood up next to them and looked down at me.

"I thought you guys were dead, you know."

Joe was quiet in response, as things can go either way. He looked at my face as Doc healed me to the best of his abilities. Joe looked down at me, repaying a favor I paid him a long time ago.

"I know… this doesn't change anything." He told me as he looked at my lifeless face.

"DOC!" Dimitri ran into the room looking for him.

"What is it?"

"Come quickly, I need you!"

"Stay with him, okay?" Doc asked them as he ran outside to the front of the museum.

The two men looked down at a wounded boy on the ground. The man's face was young, and dirty from battle. He held his oozing wound and cried. His face was sad, and confused. He looked up at them with apologetic eyes as tears ran from his face.

This boy was Manny.

The small framed boy lay against a bloody rifle with no bullets inside of it. He was next to a window leading into the building, and he was surrounded by dead ferals. They tore him apart, his leg had been severed from the small bones that connected them to the rest of his body. Manny's eyes were half open, and they looked around, trying to find something. His eyes met Dimitri as he bent down to him and they stopped moving. He looked at him as Doc helped his wounds. "What happened?" Doc asked.

"I don't know it happened during the fight; just help the boy, doctor!"

I small smile spread on his face, but was unclear due to the amount of blood. Manny moved his lips, but no words came from him. Manny coughed and smiled more at them as he said, "Thanks for letting me do this. I feel like a badass."

"You always were, molisch." Dimitri told him.

Manny's head fell back as his clothes dripped with his blood. Doc's hands fell from Manny and he looked sullenly at Dimitri. Dimitri closed Manny's eyes with his fingers and got up from him as he drifted away. Dimitri held Manny's hand and shook it somehow gently and hard at the same time. Manny's hand dropped soon after, and Dimitri fell to Manny's corpse, saying goodbye.

Doc and Dimitri walked back into the building and stood around me as Joe transferred his blood to my body. Doc continued to administer medicine to me.

"Are you his family?" Dimitri asked them.

"Yes." Joe answered him.

"That man on the ground there loves you immensely; he's done things you thought were never possible. You should probably let him know what you think now, before..."

Joe told him, "He hates us."

"Only because you never saw the world through his eyes. That's a problem we all have, and he may also have that problem as well." Dimitri walked away as the captives were fed and given water.

"I don't know why you came back for us, both of you… but thank you." Victoria told them.

"I only did it for her." Joe answered as he looked at Sarah.

"That's all of our reasons." Victoria told him.

I lifted up my hand towards Sarah's hair and stopped it from touching her. It was covered in blood: I didn't want to ruin something so perfect with the violence of the world, so I dropped it and looked at her. I looked at Joe and Victoria and remained quiet.

"Welcome back."

"Did you kill him?" I asked Joe, looking dead into his eyes.

"_Did you kill him_?" I asked again, because he didn't answer quickly enough.

"Shot him until I ran out of bullets." He nodded at me.

I sighed and dropped my head as I took in deep breaths and felt at my leg wounds as Doc wrapped them in a bandage.

I wheezed. "What…the hell are you doing here? I told you guys not to come; you could've gotten yourselves killed." I stared at Doc, I still couldn't move my body, my lips barely moved and so my words were slurred.

Doc's eyes looked back at me and told me something I didn't know.

I sat back and shook my head. "It was Manny, wasn't it?"

"It happened fast." Doc answered.

I laid there for hours until I had enough strength again. They all sat with me.

I shook my head. I turned over to my arm that was losing its numbness and saw the transfusion.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked Joe bitterly when I had more control.

"You would have done it for me."

"No." I told him with the most sincere response I've ever given him. It was time I spoke my mind.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Joe felt in his pocket for something.

"I brought you something." Joe held up a Megaton Deputy badge and showed it to me.

"No…" I spoke through deep, pained breaths.

"I'm done being the Deputy. I'm done doing this for people who hate me and apologize only because I've been shot. You're not my friend… you're just in it for yourself." I told Joe.

"That's not true."

"That's the closest thing I've ever been to it. Why else would you take me back to Megaton after I first left the vault? And why would you take me back after… I was done being a bullet shield for you? You just used me."

I inhaled. I exhaled, "I don't know what made you to come now, but I know things haven't changed." In a way, Joe thought I was right. He kept that thought to himself.

I looked over to Victoria. "You're a mother to our daughter and that's it. I tried my best to be a good husband to you but that wasn't enough, maybe it's because you never wanted me as your husband, you just wanted someone to take care of you."

I laid back and stared up at the ceiling. I soon regained enough strength to speak to them.

"Being friends to you drained me until I was no longer a person, so I couldn't have time to love my daughter and be a human being. With Chain dead, there's a new slate for us. I'm not fighting people with you anymore, Joe and I'm not trying to raise my daughter with you anymore, Victoria. You wanted to leave me when the times got tough, fine, so I'm leaving you when things are supposed to be good again, because _I'll_ at least grant you that much. Just because the bad guy is gone doesn't mean everything's forgiven."

The two sat there silently. They looked at the ground and let me say what I needed to.

"Sarah…" I told her.

"You're going to have to decide who you're going to trust eventually, every single person, even me. People will betray you no matter what you do. Judge however you feel, because it won't matter." Sarah didn't understand why I was so mad, so she just nodded.

This adventure was over for me, I quit.


	33. ACT I Epilogue

**ACT 1 Epilogue**

With the transfusion over, Joe was given water and more medical attention while he walked away from me. As he drank the water he looked at the end of the room. A woman stood there, waiting silently. She looked in his direction, but not at him. When he looked at her through his one good eye, he pulled himself from the table and pushed through the doctor that tried to sit him down. He limped over to her as she looked up at his face. Joe almost collapsed to the ground, and her eyes saddened. She moved to help him up. With a great huff the man picked himself up and hugged her as tightly as he could and she hugged back. He inhaled as he held Natalie close, and breathed heavily through his throat. The two stood standing for moments after that, silent, and holding each other. Joe didn't know she had been crying for him, or maybe he did, because he tightened his grip on her.

The medics kept me in Underworld for a few days as everyone was packed up and ready for the journey out of the city. Joe and I were handed a pair of crutches each to move around while I healed while we all received treatment for our collective injuries. After a week of bed rest I denied the crutches when they were given to me. It wouldn't have mattered; I was going to be walking with a cane for the rest of my life. Joe was forced to wear an eye bandage as he was checked regularly for cognitive damage. Joe's legs were set into place and wrapped tightly so he couldn't move from the bed he was in. What would have been a miserable fate for him was eased as he had a lovely nurse helping him and holding his hand as he slept during the day and parts of the night. Tremors from the past awoke him, but she stood there with him, holding his hand and talking to him when the nightmares were just too real not to ignore. She read to him every night, using the only book they both liked: a book that was crafted from the experiences of someone surviving in this wasteland. Underneath a dim-lit candle late at night she sat in a chair, reading the last few pages of the rulebook for scavengers, survivors, vault dwellers, lawmen, raiders, and random Wastelanders seeking guidance from someone who has lived through every last painful detail.

"… so keep your gun loaded at all times, a fight is going to happen no matter what you do, keep that in mind and you won't be stuck with a clicking gun." She said in soft words as he laid there and listened with his eyes closed, slipping back into a dream.

"And, most importantly…" She continued, "keep yourself close to others. The world we live in now is horrible, that's why we call it 'The Wasteland'. Lives are wasted daily for food and petty arguments, but the world doesn't have to be that. So keep people you trust around you. And if they trust you too, then you've survived the hardest part of this cruel world: being alone, because if there's anything worse than being hunted down by raiders, it's not having someone there to save you if you get shot by one of them."

Natalie closed the book, kissed her husband goodnight, and blew out the candle.

I awoke one day with a bottle of pills on my bedside. I turned over to them and read the label. "Painkillers?" It wrote. I took one. It wasn't.

When I awoke again Sarah and Victoria visited me. She had stitches in her face, but she wasn't swollen and bruised any longer. I hugged my daughter, and in an unexpected turn, I cried. When I released her, Victoria sat down next to me in bed and hugged me as hard as she could. It hurt me to move my torso, so I let her hug me as I laid back into my bed.

"Where's Joe?" I asked her.

"He left to go back to Megaton a couple days ago." She answered.

"Why?" I asked her.

The vault blast door was left open; no one in there seemed to even care about what would get inside. A freshly healed Joe walked inside with a hunting rifle and pistol on his hip. He put his rifle on his back and pulled his pistol out and walked. He looked around, static was constant through the intercoms. After minutes of silence in the vault he went to go and find the source of the static. He walked towards the Overseer's office, ready for anything. As he walked down the silent hallways, a sudden noise startled him. A man was rejecting bile somewhere near him. Painful moans followed soon after and it resonated all around Joe's ears as he walked closer to it. He walked past a body of a man in a vault suit. His face was white, his chest covered in blood and vomit. He slipped on it before he fell against the metal wall and died. Joe kept walking towards the sound. He found a man limping against the wall, using the cold and unforgiving metal walls as a crutch. The man's yellowed eyes looked up at Joe for a second as he fell forward and died on the ground. A blood and vomit trail followed the man, and Joe couldn't figure out what was happening. He passed more bodies; all stacked in a classroom as if they all were thrown in there like bags of garbage. The smell was awful, but Joe wasn't focused on it. He opened the door to the Overseer's office.

It was in disarray. Papers and wires were everywhere as if something large clawed through the area. He looked at the desk where a woman was slumped atop of it, limp as a bag of food. He reached his hand toward her and as his skin touched hers she awoke, coughing violently and upchucking more bodily fluids on the corner of the desk. It spilled off the end and onto the ground near Joe's feet. Her eyes looked up at him and she breathed heavily.

"You came here to kill us... didn't you?" She asked him.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked her.

"Listen to me…" Rachel commanded him, even as she lay on her deathbed. Joe noticed wrinkles all over her face and hands.

"There's a baby here… it's something…" She slipped away for a moment.

"It's special, made to do great things…" She continued.

"Then I'll take it with me."

"Wait…" She told him tiredly as he tried to walk away. "Please…" She begged.

"I need to show you this before… be… before… I…" Rachel inhaled deeply and coughed a hacking and painful cough.

"It needs to be raised… find… Doctor…" Her hands felt for the controls to Project Legacy, the hidden test chamber right below Joe's feet. She was about to show him the answer to everything.

"Li… Madison Li—" She dry heaved and coughed afterwards. "Rivet City. And if you can't…"

Rachel pressed her finger against the hidden control panel. Joe lifted up his pistol and aimed it at her.

"Drop your hand, now!" Joe shouted.

"No… you don't understand… you have to—"

"Someone will raise that baby, there are people left here."

"Not for long… not unless its raised here…"

Rachel's head dropped against the desk in a puddle of her own bodily fluids.

Joe slowly lowered his pistol and cut the intercom wire. He left the office as Rachel's hand dropped limp on the Legacy scanner. Joe left the room as the hidden entrance opened, releasing an army of men and women. They began to clean the vault room, and fix what was broken. Joe walked through the vault corridors until he heard the wails of a baby. He ran through the halls and opened the doors, looking frantically around until he found a familiar room. His foot kicked over a book: "You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L.!" was the cover. He saw a crib covered in some sort of casing with a terminal connected to it.

This lounger broadcasted a simulation that took over the minds of many Vault residents, but was never used until recently. Joe stared into the pod as the baby cried and kept its eyes open at a screen inside the pod. The baby was connected to it as it stared into the screen. Joe looked at the outside terminal and read the screen.

"Current Age: Three

Next Incubation Release: Age Ten"

These pods were taking the people inside them captive and doing something horrible to them. But Joe couldn't understand this. The baby was hooked up to feeding tubes and protected by the pod. Joe took out his rifle and dropped his pistol on the ground as he quickly ran the butt of it into the glass. Joe shouted out a painful roar as he bashed the glass, again and again. Not a single crack, the glass was as protective as the walls around him. Joe huffed out hard breaths and grabbed at his throat in pain as he swallowed saliva. He calmed down and got to his feet again, aiming his rifle at the glass, but away from the baby. Joe squeezed the trigger and fell back from the instant ricochet. The bullet flew off to the side and scraped the metal walls. The bullet, now flattened, fell to the ground next to Joe. He picked up the bullet and looked at the glass: nothing changed. He tried the terminal: nothing. He tried breaking it off: just as strong as the glass. Soon Joe was helpless to this child, and so he backed away in defeat. He left the room and looked around for help. A man in a doctor's coat walked by him, staring at him.

"You!" Joe pointed at the man frantically.

"Is that your baby in there?!" Joe asked quickly as the man moved towards the entrance to the child's room.

"Yes it is. I'm James. Is there a problem?" He asked him.

Joe squinted at him. "Y-Yeah its… its inside kind of machine, what is it? You have to get it out of there!"

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" James asked him on the offensive.

"You need to get it out of there now!" Joe yelled.

"Lower your voice. Who are you? And what happened to your clothes?" James asked Joe as he looked at his tarnished vault suit and armor still left on his body from his fight to the death with The Raider.

Joe turned around towards the room, the cries of the baby stopped, all was silent. Footsteps trotted towards both men, and a woman emerged. Her belly was round, protruding. She was pregnant.

"James? What's going on?" She asked.

"W…What? Is the baby okay?" Joe asked her.

She rubbed her belly. "My baby's fine," She turned to her husband "who is this man James?"

"No… no that's…" Joe couldn't form words.

"Madison Li." Joe told him.

"…what?" The doctor asked.

"The… the baby needs to see her."

James' face changed. He swallowed hard and looked at the man with sweat forming at his forehead. Joe looked at him and then fast walked away. He stopped at the end of the hall and turned around.

"Hey…" Joe asked him. James turned around.

"Yes?" James asked.

"Are you a doctor?"

"Yes I am. For ten years."

Joe stared at him; his brain was telling him this man looked familiar. He had a resemblance to someone close to him but he couldn't put his finger on it. All he knew was that he was a doctor, and that baby was safe for the time being. Joe turned away and walked out of the vault, walking by Vault residents as they walked by and had normal conversations. As more and more healthy people walked by him, he turned to see all their faces, his ears looking for a cough and his eyes reading for signs of sickness. Where did these people come from? The vault was bustling again and Joe didn't know why. The intercom flickered on.

"All medical personnel please report to my office as ordered by the Overseer." A man's voice said to him.

Joe looked up at the intercom. He cut the wire. That couldn't have happened. Joe sprinted to the Overseer's office and opened the door. The security personnel looked at him with cautious eyes.

"Something to report, officer?" The Overseer asked him as he held his small baby in his eyes. Joe remembered seeing this man, except it was years ago and this man had somehow reversed his age. Joe remembered throwing this same man into the wilderness and leaving him to die. He held his baby, a girl. She was to grow into a woman who Joe saw die fifteen minutes ago. Joe backed away in fear and distrust. Joe sprinted away, pushing people out of the way as he made it to the entrance of the Vault. The blast door was shut. He was trapped, in his mind that is. He looked at the guard who stood near the controls.

"Open the door!" Joe yelled.

"What purpose? Scouting mission for the Overseer?" The guard asked.

Joe lifted his rifle up at him.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Joe boomed.

The guard pulled out a 10mm pistol and aimed it at him. Joe fired the rifle into his neck and ran to the controls to open the door. What Joe didn't realize was that this decision would make sure that door would never open again as long as The Overseer was in charge. The blast door screeched and whirred as it slid open, exposing piles of skeletons sitting in front. Joe breathed heavily and looked at them. One wore a Vault suit, they looked like they were clawing at the closed door before they died. These weren't here. It was as if someone walked there on their own, died and decomposed in a matter of minutes. Joe closed the Vault door behind him and ran away. It would be years before that door would open again, luckily someone else would get the blame for his decision.

We transported the townspeople out of the city with the help of the residents of the Underworld and finally caught up to Joe. I held Sarah's tiny hand as Victoria and Joe walked with us to the entrance of Megaton.

It was dead, still, and smelled of its fate. The four of us looked around as the citizens of Megaton walked through the gates behind us, holding what loved ones they had left.

"Stay with your mother." I told Sarah as I handed her off. I limped forward, holding my cane and looking around.

The pipes I once crawled on to win a game and marry my wife were blasted apart and came crashing into homes below them. The hospital where my daughter was born was blasted apart and collapsing as doctors lay dead near their patients. People were lined up and shot near Joe's office: the place where the three of us would spend our working days to relax, play games and tell stories on hot, boring days. A grenade or fire bomb exploded at the front of the bar: the place where I learned that my friends were the most interesting people on the planet, the place where one of those friends vowed to teach me how to survive in the Wasteland while the other taught me how to live. It was the place where I slept, where I learned, where I proposed to my wife, and where Joe met his. The metal was taken away and the flooring was collapsed. Joe and I stared up at the bar silently, shoulder-to-shoulder. We stood there with only wind hitting our ears, and we then looked at each other, and then at the ground. Birds flew overhead, some ate the bodies of the dead and the sobbing friends and family of the deceased swatted them away and fell over to the corpses in dismay. We walked to my house: the place where I tested my maturity and raised a family there. Joe stepped over pieces of broken crutches and looked down. Natalie walked behind him as he painfully bent down to them. She grabbed his shoulder, but he rejected the help. He grabbed the broken crutch and looked at it in his hand. His wife had signed that one. "So I'm always close to my special armpit" it said in her handwriting with a heart and smiling face after it. Joe rolled his tongue in bitter remembrance and dropped it to the ground as I walked through my front door. It was off its hinges; my house was raided and looted. Food was taken out and all my cabinets and bags were swung open and left there. Sarah trotted forward as Joe held out his gun and looked around. She ran to the candy stash that was supposed to be hidden.

It was cleared out. Sarah's hand dropped from it and walked back to her parents. My dining table was broken from a fight, we could no longer eat there as a family, not that we would have. I slid my hand against the smooth guard rail as I walked upstairs. I stopped as my hand brushed past a stray bullet planted in the rail. I dropped my hand to the side and continued to walk upstairs. I went into my bathroom. I remembered when I was looking in the mirror and shaving one morning when my wife was about to tell me she was pregnant with our daughter. That mirror was broken; a bullet had cracked its side as it passed through our home. My medicine cabinet was raided and bottles of children's medicine were discarded as useless and dropped in our toilet. My family and I went into the master bedroom. Our sheets were taken, our closet had nothing left in it, our clothes were gone. Sarah ran into her bedroom excitedly to satisfy the feeling of being in her room again.

Her foot crumpled over paper at her feet and she looked down. The book given to her mother as a gift to pass down to Sarah when she was born was torn apart and the pages were scattered all around her room. Her closet was raided and the small clothes were thrown around and left there. An old crib that was put in her closet as an old memory was thrown against her wall and was broken apart. Her bed was flipped over and her toy chest was broken and some of the toys were taken for whatever reason. She grew up in this room; she still was meant to grow up there. Her family was behind her as she stood still and looked at the carnage that the looters had done. Her head went down, and she turned to us with tears in her face. I walked to her first and hugged her.

"This can be fixed. I promise it will be." I told her as her face was kept still and strong as her eyes just expelled water.

Victoria stood there and her face was dry. She bent down to her daughter and looked in her eyes with the most mature and loving look on her face.

"You still have us, they haven't taken that." She smiled as she kissed her daughter and hugged her.

"Let's go help clean up outside." I suggested.

"Let's go, sweetie." Victoria picked her daughter up and we walked outside to Joe who had exited a while back and kept looking around.

"Who would do this?" I asked.

"I dunno." Joe answered.

I didn't expect a genuine answer from him so I looked at him, and then looked away as he turned to me.

We heard rustling down the patch of destroyed homes and looked towards it. A man in a backpack sprinted from a house with his loot still being carried. He sprinted in our direction, and I just looked at him. Joe fired a round into the man's heart and killed him. He looked at me, as I didn't even move a muscle.

"You're kidding me, right?" Joe looked at my still face as the looter lie dead inches away from my feet. I looked up at him, and walked away, pulling my daughter's head away from the body. She didn't seem to care though.

"We can't stay here." Victoria told Joe, Natalie and I.

"Yes we can." Sarah spoke up as Victoria held her daughter's hand.

"I want to live in my room." She added.

"Sweetie—" Victoria stammered.

I looked up at my wife. "We can still live here." I told her, staring into her eyes.

"There's nothing left."

"You live in The Wasteland. Someone's said that before and ended up being wrong."

"We should—" Joe stopped and looked at me.

"I'll go clear out the rest of the town." He continued, fixing his sentence.

"I'll go with you." Natalie nodded as she walked with him. Joe smiled warmly.

I looked at Victoria and she looked back at me. I didn't walk with them.

"Hey." Joe called to me, remembering something much more horrifying than the ruins of Megaton.

"Yeah?"

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine now."

"No… stomach thing? Cough?"

"No? Why? Are you sick?"

"No, no… just wondering." Joe turned away and walked with a gun and his hand and Natalie waiting shortly behind him with a pistol.

I turned away and back to my family. "The house is clear, so…"

Victoria nodded silently and led us back into our damaged home.

Joe and Natalie stood at the collapsed rubble of the bar and he kicked over steel, exposing broken bottles of alcohol. Joe picked one half of a bottle up and glass and liquid fell out and onto the dirt below him. He tossed the bottle back into the rubble.

"What a waste…" Natalie mumbled.

"You're telling me." Joe responded.

"Can I tell you something, Joe?" Natalie asked him as she wrapped her arm around him and stared at the broken bar counter.

"Of course." He answered.

"I…" She choked up and couldn't complete her sentence.

"I think I'm pregnant."

Joe turned his head to face her, and gave her the warmest hug he could, not because he was hopeful for a better future than the one they have now, but because his future was right in front of him, and there wasn't a single threat to that anymore. They said nothing else after that.

They continued to walk with each other as they continued around the perimeter of the town, stopping at his office.

He opened the door to it, which was left creaking open after it had been kicked down by someone previously. Natalie gagged as the two stared at the body of a raider tied to a desk.

"OH MY GOD!" Natalie yelled in disgust.

"You leave them with _one_ responsibility!" Joe coughed and spat onto the ground as they stared at the decaying raider as bugs ate its corpse, they seemed to have finished up the legs and rib cage, as bone was sitting there, popped out and exposed. That didn't stop the looters from coming in there, as the maps of town were ripped off the walls, files were thrown around and the place was stripped of everything. Joe stepped over the body, holding his nose as Natalie waited for him at the doorframe. The desk where his stash of hunting rifle rounds was looted, only a letter was left inside atop of intelligence about raiders. Joe picked up the letter.

"Meet me in front of the Nuka Cola Machine outside the town tonight. Go alone.

Chain"

Joe crumpled up the letter and threw it; it was useless to him now. He turned over to his side and saw a safe sitting next to his feet, it was broken before, but the lock was replaced only to be broken again. It didn't belong to him to begin with, it was owned by the last sheriff. What had held the town revenue that Joe counted maniacally with his two friends as they decided their big plans for this town was now gone, every single dollar. Joe left the office; there wasn't anything for him that he wanted. He stood at the beam that guarded people from falling from the height that Joe's office was located on: a hill perched over the crater in the middle of town. He stood next to Natalie as he remembered an awkward speech being given from outside his office to the people of Megaton: something that was discarded as unimportant, but now in the present, was one of the smartest decisions ever made in their lives.

Joe walked by Moira and her daughter as they lifted up their fallen sign of "The Craterside Supply" and tried to replace it back where it was above their broken-in door.

The citizens of Megaton took the bodies of their loved ones and took them outside, and as Joe and Natalie watched this, they soon followed. Word spread around time of the residents' plan, and so every person collectively stood outside.

The sun was beginning to rise over them, the chill of night still fading by the second. I stood with my family as we watched the bodies were stacked and placed on the farm. The crops were dead, their seeds gone and now the families that were taken were grouped together by the household and placed in groups as the ones who survived stared over them. Natalie and Joe held onto each other as the survivors stared silently, some whispering prayers and goodbyes. A shovel was passed on by an ex-guard and veteran of Megaton. He was there since the beginning, from the first attack of Megaton that almost took my life when I tried my hardest to take down a man that was always going to be stronger than me. This guard dug his shovel into the ground and dug the first grave for the family, and when the sun was out, he stopped and buried the dead. I left my family and took the shovel from him. I dug it into the dead farmland and continued to dig a grave while the family said their goodbyes. When I was done, they took the shovel from me and used it to dig a grave for another family, and in return they dug another family's grave and so on. When the funerals were done, the gravestones were placed by the families and friends of the ones who were lost—to be honest there wasn't a difference between the two at the time. Friends are the closest thing to a family, and in some special cases, even better than one. My family stood with me as the town took destroyed and burned memories and placed them on the grave, and for certain graves, were the tombstone itself. Necklaces, jewelry, tennis balls, inside jokes and memories, all placed on the graves of their family. One of them had a samurai sword stabbed into the ground. That family cried with a smile on their faces.

When it was done, the families wiped tears from their faces as people that didn't even know them before this held them—they were alone now, and so someone had corrected that and mourned with them. Joe held Natalie's hand and squeezed it tightly before he walked away from her and stood in the middle of the town, gathering their attention from them.

He stood there amongst the silent townspeople.

"This isn't the end for us—or them," He spoke to the families. "… and if we so choose… we will die at the place we call home, and be buried with our families: a blessing that these people below us were given." He told us, looking around to face them all to stare into their red, leaking eyes as the sheriff stood outside the ruins of the city he was born in.

That was all that needed to be said.

**END OF ACT I**

**Thank you for reading, stay tuned for more! As always, send your feedback about literally anything and I'll make sure I read it! Thank you for your support!**


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